Glenn Beck Quitting Fox News Show

[sandi66]

Glenn Beck Quitting Fox News Show Today

April 6, 2011

by Josh Grossberg


Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert won't have Glenn Beck to kick around anymore.

The polarizing TV host and Fox News jointly announced Wednesday that Beck will be exiting his daytime soapbox to concentrate on producing various tube projects for Fox and other platforms, via his Mercury Radio Arts company.

Guess the end really was near.

RELATED: Crazy Like a Fox Feud: Glenn Beck Returns James Cameron's Verbal Volley

"I truly believe that America owes a lot to [Fox Chairman] Roger Ailes and Fox News," said Beck in a statement. "I cannot repay Roger for the lessons I've learned and will continue to learn from him and I look forward to starting this new phase of our partnership."

The news comes after several months of media speculation that the Fox News host might be giving up his chalkboard in the wake of plummeting ratings for The Glenn Beck Show, which has been steadily losing advertisers turned off by Beck's often bizarre rants.

Since leaving CNN and jumping to Fox News in October 2008, Beck's first two years in the gig was a huge boon for the network. Before its decline, the show was the third-highest rated program in all of cable news—a remarkable feat given it airs at 5 p.m.

The political pundit also emcees a top-rated radio show, has authored several best-selling books and may be now contemplating building a media empire of his own.

Despite the recent stumbles, Fox honcho Ailes remains a fan.

"Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anyone's standards," said Ailes. "I look forward to continuing to work with him."

Additionally, Joel Cheatwood, SVP of Development at Fox News and a longtime Beck associate, will also move to Mercury Radio Arts as EVP to oversee its relationship with the cable channel.

Beck is expected to transition off his daily show sometime later this year.

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[sandi66]

Glenn Beck to Quit Fox News Show

By Joe Coscarelli, Wed., Apr. 6 2011 @ 2:57PM

Though his contract is not up until December, early 2011 has seen its share of speculation about the fate of Glenn Beck and his hugely successful Fox News show. Both Beck's camp, namely his company Mercury Radio Arts, and the Fox News side have flexed in the press to prove that neither really needed the other. Beck, who started on radio, has a huge following online, in print and throughout the country's gun stores, and could branch out successfully any which way, his side said. He's a loose cannon nutjob and his numbers are falling fast anyway, said Fox News. The public semi-battle, fought mostly by anonymous sources on both sides, was doubtlessly a negotiation tactic. Today, news comes that the sides have come together and the show will end, but their relationship will not. More info inside Press Clips, our daily media column, plus embarrassing quotes from the boss at the New York Times and ASME reactions.

Beck's Big Exit: In a statement today, Fox and Mercury Radio Arts said that the show Glenn Beck, which has aired at 5 p.m. since 2009, will be phased out, though no end date was given, but that the two sides will "work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News' digital properties," according to the statement via the New York Times.

The question of Beck's departure came up first in a David Carr column early last month, but on the air, Beck was careful to praise his network, saying, "Two years ago, I was on a cable channel that no one was watching at the time, doing a show that no one was watching, and I was about to leave television. And then I had the opportunity to come and work here. ...If you're going to do news or commentary, the only place, I think in the world, the only place that really makes an impact is Fox."

In the end both sides would make their money, we assured anyone who was worried, and this is the ultimate win-win for both sides, as awful as they can be. Beck gets to stay close to Roger Ailes, who works his own sort of dark magic, possibly on larger projects, while Beck can also cater more directly to his mindless masses through his website The Blaze and whatever else he might have cooking (another kids' book hopefully!) while not being tethered to a daily broadcast. May Olbermann help us all.

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