"Glenn Beck will end his daily Fox News Channel program later this year"
So reports the NY Times and the press release at Glenn Beck.com confirms it. Mercury Radio Arts and Fox will co-develope and otherwise collaborate on a variety of new properties in the future, but Glenn Beck's eponymous TV show will not be among them.For the author of a forthcoming book on right wing conspiracism (which quotes Glenn Beck extensively), the news sent a chill down my spine. What's next, Sarah Palin giving up politics and going off, Greta Garbo-like, into voluntary seclusion? Roger Ailes releasing a CD of old Wobbly tunes? Ann Coulter foreswearing meanness? I don't think so.Reading the mostly ecstatic readers' comments after the New York Times story ("proof positive that Americans do have the ability to regenerate brain cells. Hooray for America!"; "thank God this particular chicken has left Fox's henhouse") it's worth remembering that Beck was a big star on syndicated radio before he came to Fox and that he fully intends to remain a big star even if he's no longer a Fox personality. Beck thinks of himself as a mogul anyway and Fox has never been his cash cow. Exactly one year ago, Forbes reported on Beck's growing business empire:
"He has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth. He gets $13 million a year from print (books plus the ten-issue-a-year magazine Fusion). Radio brings in $10 million. Digital (including a newsletter, the ad-supported Glennbeck.com and merchandise) pulls in $4 million. Speaking and events are good for $3 million and television for $2 million.
What with Beck's declining ratings, advertiser boycotts, and on-air meltdowns, today's news comes as no suprise. But Beck and his conspiracy theories aren't even close to fading away. Even if he doesn't relaunch himself on TV, perhaps on a cable station of his own, he will still command a significant audience through the radio, the web, and rallies, not to mention books. And if you've read Alexander Zaitchik's Uncommon Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, then you know that unrenewed contracts are very much business as usual for him.
