The News Of …

Beck put a press release on his website yesterday announcing his split with Fox: “I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and FOX News. 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.” There’s been a lot of chatter about how Beck’s TV ratings have been in decline and advertisers were staying away from the program. Even with the drop in ratings Beck had the third highest rated program on cable.
Beck says his production company will be working with FOX News Channel developing and producing a variety of television projects for air on the FOX News Channel as well as content for other platforms including FOX News’ digital properties. Joel Cheatwood (SVP/Development at FOX News) will be joining Beck on April 24th. Part of his role as EVP will be to manage the partnership and serve as a liaison with FOX News.

Glenn Beck.

Fox News host Glenn Beck took viewers by surprise Wednesday with the announcement that his 5 p.m. program will ‘transition off’ the network.
“I am going to leave this program later this year, but I am not leaving Fox” – Beck told viewers at the top of his TV program Wednesday.
Beck’s program is the nation’s third-highest rated cable news program, attracting nearly 2,2 million viewers a night.
Fox News and Beck stated that they will continue to “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.”
The news surprised millions of loyal Beck fans, but rumors had swirled for months that Beck might be leaving his 5 p.m. slot. There had been widespread speculation that Beck would be expanding his own subscription-based television programming and might even launch his own cable channel.
The news of Beck’s departure from the 5 p.m. time slot on Fox triggered mixed reactions from across the media universe.
Liberals predictably took their shots at a host whose ratings dominance was never even close to being challenged by competitors at left-leaning networks.
“Glenn Beck is leaving Fox. Where’s he gonna go? The Oprah Network?” tweeted The View co-host Joy Behar. She added – “I give him 20 minutes alone in a room with Rosie” O’Donnell.

Two television news icons, one interesting, the other annoying, announced they’re leaving this week – Matt Lauer from The Today Show and Glenn Beck from Fox News.
Matt Lauer’s news would, if it holds, bring to an end an 20-year relationship going back to January 1992. That tenure saw Lauer’s rise from newsreader to the face of The Today Show. It’s a position Lauer’s managed to hold with relatively little fanfare and not much scandal, other than hard exchanges with Tom Cruise and more recently Kanye West, and rumors (since denied) of a breakup with his wife Annette in 2010.
The question is where will Matt Lauer go? Mister Lauer was born in 1957, which would put him currently at 54 years of age. One thinks Matt may want to take his life in a very different direction than it’s gone over the past 25 years.
But Where? Glenn Beck’s Way?
Certainly not in Glenn Beck’s direction, that’s for sure. Beck, a hyper-conservative given to wild and hard-to-substantiate claims, and the occasionally crazy rant (to where the blog Gawker’s called him an ‘unhinged crybaby’), has lost a slew of advertisers (like Geico and Proctor & Gamble), so it’s no surprise that his daily TV show’s coming to an end.
Glenn just plain does stupid things on his show and on Fox. From calling President Obama racist, then taking back the statement, to the consistent use of Nazi and Holocaust imagery, upsetting not just Jewish groups, but anyone who has at least half-a-brain to be aware of what’s decent and acceptable to do on television.