Ancalagon
04-07-2011, 05:36 PM
I guess he went too far?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/konrad-yakabuski/fox-drops-demagogue-glenn-beck/article1974164/
Fox drops demagogue Glenn Beck
KONRAD YAKABUSKI | Columnist profile | E-mail
WASHINGTON— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 9:17PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 8:37AM EDT
Glenn Beck began his Fox News show the same week Barack Obama started his White House gig. In the ensuing months, the TV host spun his right-wing monologues into a ratings juggernaut, while the President’s approval ratings slumped so low he risked cancellation by the voters.
One of the above has vastly improved odds of being renewed for another season. As for the other, the clock is fast ticking on his 15 minutes.
Fox’s announcement that Mr. Beck will end his weekday show this year signals more than the parting of the top U.S. cable news network and its most notorious property. It underscores a shift in the national mood.
In short, Americans just aren’t that angry any more.
The conspiracy-theory-laced rants against Mr. Obama and the left that made Mr. Beck so captivating for an audience of Americans grappling to come to terms with a changing world now sound tired. No one can cry wolf that often and expect to get the same rise out of viewers.
Besides, even during his early 2010 heyday, Fox was unable to generate advertising revenues to match Mr. Beck’s ratings, since no reputable company would sign on to sponsor the guy who accused Mr. Obama of harbouring a “deep-seated hatred for white people.”
Mr. Beck’s ratings plummeted 31 per cent in the first three months of 2011, compared with the same period last year. His audience among viewers in the key 25-to-54-year-old cohort plunged 38 per cent to fewer than 500,000.
Mr. Beck has still been drawing almost two million viewers during his 5 p.m. time slot, which is more than the number who tune in to the four competing cable news channels combined. But Beck diehards tend to be older, while serious political news junkies are returning again to CNN.
For months, reports have been surfacing about a souring of the relationship between Mr. Beck and Fox president Roger Ailes. Notwithstanding its “Fair & Balanced” tagline, the network owned by Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch is an unapologetic champion of the right. But Mr. Beck’s bombastic, and regularly offensive, commentary had become a drag on the Fox brand.
In a statement, Fox said Mr. Beck’s production company, Mercury Radio Arts, would produce occasional content for the network and its digital platforms. But media analysts described it as a largely face-saving gesture and many expressed doubt that anything will come of the venture.
“Fox executives are relieved to be rid of Beck,” Howard Kurtz, The Daily Beast’s well-connected media blogger, wrote on Wednesday. He called the events that led to the divorce “a case study in how even the most successful broadcast personalities can become too hot to handle.”
Indeed, Mr. Beck’s doomsday jeremiads have become increasingly unhinged. As his ratings began sliding last summer, Mr. Beck’s conspiracy theories only seemed to grow more outrageous.
In January, for instance, Mr. Beck, 47, devoted three shows to savaging Hungarian-born financier George Soros, a prominent sponsor of left-wing causes. The series depicted Mr. Soros as “a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps.”
Mr. Beck opened Wednesday’s show by attempting to play down his departure, saying “there is much more important news than what the fat, chunky guy is going to do with his future.”
He then launched into a convoluted monologue linking French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left-wing linguist Noam Chomsky, filmmaker Michael Moore, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Mr. Soros and others.
“What do they have in common? They want to change the world,” Mr. Beck insisted. “They want an end, to some degree or another, of the Western way of life. … They want a revolution.”
Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Mr. Beck has warned of the coming “Archduke Ferdinand moment” in which “socialist radicals” and “Islamic radicals” will join together to upend the global order.
Fox News personality Glenn Beck speaks during the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington. - Fox News personality Glenn Beck speaks during the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
Konrad Yakabuski
Fox drops demagogue Glenn Beck
KONRAD YAKABUSKI | Columnist profile | E-mail
WASHINGTON— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 9:17PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 8:37AM EDT
350 comments
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There was a time, before he began taking himself so seriously, when Mr. Beck was mildly entertaining. Whether you agreed with him or not, you could appreciate the speck of truth on which he based his grotesque caricatures. His was an illogical and paranoid interpretation of current events, but a reminder of just how much reality itself can be subjective.
And there is no denying Mr. Beck has changed the course of American politics. He mobilized the Tea Party opposition to Mr. Obama, particularly during the battle over health-care reform, and ultimately helped Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives in November.
But as he retreats into his own media universe – he runs his own subscriber-based website and hosts a highly lucrative syndicated radio show – he will now merely preach to the converted. And his flock is shrinking.
Frankly, considering his self-professed clairvoyance, he must have seen it coming.
BIOGRAPHY OF GLENN BECK
Talk-show host has called U.S. President Obama a racist and says, ‘If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot’
Personal life
- Raised by alcoholic mother who drowned when he was a teenager.
- Former alcoholic and drug addict himself, sober since 1995.
- Married to his second wife, with four children.
Education
- Enrolled in one class at Yale University but dropped out. His biographer says, “He learned just about everything he knows about history and politics from AM radio and crazy Mormon Birchers.”
Religion
- Born Catholic, converted to Mormon after meeting his second wife.
Career
- Began as a radio shock-jock.
- Turned to talk radio in 2000 with The Glenn Beck Show.
- Moved to television in 2006 with a show on CNN’s Headline News before being lured to FOX News in 2008.
- His work still includes radio as well as the television show, best-selling books, public appearances and strong support for the Tea Party movement.
Glenn Beck quotes
- On Barack Obama: “This President, I think, has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. … I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
- On foreign policy: “The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be president would be, ‘What the hell you mean we're out of missiles?’ “
- On health care: “Do you trust these people enough to give them control over who lives and who dies? Because that’s what health care is when you have no other choice but to go to the state.”
- On evolution: “I don't think we came from monkeys. I think that's ridiculous. I haven't seen a half-monkey, half-person yet.”
- On education: “There are a lot of universities that are as dangerous with the indoctrination of the children as terrorists are in Iran or North Korea. … We have been setting up re-education camps. We call them universities.”
- On teaching climate change in schools: “Some may believe we're on the road to the Hitler Youth.”
- On God: “I don't get in the way of the spirit, in case he wants to talk … if you would just pray that I would be able to hear because sometimes – sometimes he's screaming at me and I still can't hear it.”
- On Glenn Beck: “I say on the air all time, ‘If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot.’ “
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/konrad-yakabuski/fox-drops-demagogue-glenn-beck/article1974164/
Fox drops demagogue Glenn Beck
KONRAD YAKABUSKI | Columnist profile | E-mail
WASHINGTON— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 9:17PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 8:37AM EDT
Glenn Beck began his Fox News show the same week Barack Obama started his White House gig. In the ensuing months, the TV host spun his right-wing monologues into a ratings juggernaut, while the President’s approval ratings slumped so low he risked cancellation by the voters.
One of the above has vastly improved odds of being renewed for another season. As for the other, the clock is fast ticking on his 15 minutes.
Fox’s announcement that Mr. Beck will end his weekday show this year signals more than the parting of the top U.S. cable news network and its most notorious property. It underscores a shift in the national mood.
In short, Americans just aren’t that angry any more.
The conspiracy-theory-laced rants against Mr. Obama and the left that made Mr. Beck so captivating for an audience of Americans grappling to come to terms with a changing world now sound tired. No one can cry wolf that often and expect to get the same rise out of viewers.
Besides, even during his early 2010 heyday, Fox was unable to generate advertising revenues to match Mr. Beck’s ratings, since no reputable company would sign on to sponsor the guy who accused Mr. Obama of harbouring a “deep-seated hatred for white people.”
Mr. Beck’s ratings plummeted 31 per cent in the first three months of 2011, compared with the same period last year. His audience among viewers in the key 25-to-54-year-old cohort plunged 38 per cent to fewer than 500,000.
Mr. Beck has still been drawing almost two million viewers during his 5 p.m. time slot, which is more than the number who tune in to the four competing cable news channels combined. But Beck diehards tend to be older, while serious political news junkies are returning again to CNN.
For months, reports have been surfacing about a souring of the relationship between Mr. Beck and Fox president Roger Ailes. Notwithstanding its “Fair & Balanced” tagline, the network owned by Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch is an unapologetic champion of the right. But Mr. Beck’s bombastic, and regularly offensive, commentary had become a drag on the Fox brand.
In a statement, Fox said Mr. Beck’s production company, Mercury Radio Arts, would produce occasional content for the network and its digital platforms. But media analysts described it as a largely face-saving gesture and many expressed doubt that anything will come of the venture.
“Fox executives are relieved to be rid of Beck,” Howard Kurtz, The Daily Beast’s well-connected media blogger, wrote on Wednesday. He called the events that led to the divorce “a case study in how even the most successful broadcast personalities can become too hot to handle.”
Indeed, Mr. Beck’s doomsday jeremiads have become increasingly unhinged. As his ratings began sliding last summer, Mr. Beck’s conspiracy theories only seemed to grow more outrageous.
In January, for instance, Mr. Beck, 47, devoted three shows to savaging Hungarian-born financier George Soros, a prominent sponsor of left-wing causes. The series depicted Mr. Soros as “a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps.”
Mr. Beck opened Wednesday’s show by attempting to play down his departure, saying “there is much more important news than what the fat, chunky guy is going to do with his future.”
He then launched into a convoluted monologue linking French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left-wing linguist Noam Chomsky, filmmaker Michael Moore, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Mr. Soros and others.
“What do they have in common? They want to change the world,” Mr. Beck insisted. “They want an end, to some degree or another, of the Western way of life. … They want a revolution.”
Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Mr. Beck has warned of the coming “Archduke Ferdinand moment” in which “socialist radicals” and “Islamic radicals” will join together to upend the global order.
Fox News personality Glenn Beck speaks during the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington. - Fox News personality Glenn Beck speaks during the "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall on Aug. 28, 2010 in Washington. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
Konrad Yakabuski
Fox drops demagogue Glenn Beck
KONRAD YAKABUSKI | Columnist profile | E-mail
WASHINGTON— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Apr. 06, 2011 9:17PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 8:37AM EDT
350 comments
*
*
* Print/License
* Decrease text size Increase text size
Click Here
There was a time, before he began taking himself so seriously, when Mr. Beck was mildly entertaining. Whether you agreed with him or not, you could appreciate the speck of truth on which he based his grotesque caricatures. His was an illogical and paranoid interpretation of current events, but a reminder of just how much reality itself can be subjective.
And there is no denying Mr. Beck has changed the course of American politics. He mobilized the Tea Party opposition to Mr. Obama, particularly during the battle over health-care reform, and ultimately helped Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives in November.
But as he retreats into his own media universe – he runs his own subscriber-based website and hosts a highly lucrative syndicated radio show – he will now merely preach to the converted. And his flock is shrinking.
Frankly, considering his self-professed clairvoyance, he must have seen it coming.
BIOGRAPHY OF GLENN BECK
Talk-show host has called U.S. President Obama a racist and says, ‘If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot’
Personal life
- Raised by alcoholic mother who drowned when he was a teenager.
- Former alcoholic and drug addict himself, sober since 1995.
- Married to his second wife, with four children.
Education
- Enrolled in one class at Yale University but dropped out. His biographer says, “He learned just about everything he knows about history and politics from AM radio and crazy Mormon Birchers.”
Religion
- Born Catholic, converted to Mormon after meeting his second wife.
Career
- Began as a radio shock-jock.
- Turned to talk radio in 2000 with The Glenn Beck Show.
- Moved to television in 2006 with a show on CNN’s Headline News before being lured to FOX News in 2008.
- His work still includes radio as well as the television show, best-selling books, public appearances and strong support for the Tea Party movement.
Glenn Beck quotes
- On Barack Obama: “This President, I think, has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. … I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
- On foreign policy: “The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be president would be, ‘What the hell you mean we're out of missiles?’ “
- On health care: “Do you trust these people enough to give them control over who lives and who dies? Because that’s what health care is when you have no other choice but to go to the state.”
- On evolution: “I don't think we came from monkeys. I think that's ridiculous. I haven't seen a half-monkey, half-person yet.”
- On education: “There are a lot of universities that are as dangerous with the indoctrination of the children as terrorists are in Iran or North Korea. … We have been setting up re-education camps. We call them universities.”
- On teaching climate change in schools: “Some may believe we're on the road to the Hitler Youth.”
- On God: “I don't get in the way of the spirit, in case he wants to talk … if you would just pray that I would be able to hear because sometimes – sometimes he's screaming at me and I still can't hear it.”
- On Glenn Beck: “I say on the air all time, ‘If you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot.’ “