Why Rupert Murdoch Will Fire Glenn Beck

Rupert Murdoch is a smart man. In the U.K, Murdoch aligns his newspapers with the popular political party and helps them enact their policies by giving them favorable coverage. For the past 12 years, he supported the Labour Party. Now they are out of favor, Murdoch switched seamlessly to the Conservatives. Desperate to gain a grip on the Chinese media market, Murdoch saddled up to the Communist Party.

In short, Murdoch doesn't care about Left or Right. He cares about money.

In the United States, his news channel is doing just about everything it can to irritate the current President, and it is beginning to affect his business.

When news show host Glenn Beck explicitly called Barack Obama a racist, it caused a media hailstorm and an advertising exodus from his show that reached as far as the U.K (Beck's show is broadcast on Murdoch's 'Sky News' channel). On a recent political talk show tour, President Obama sat down with five networks, none of which were Fox. The Murdoch-owned network was humiliatingly replaced with the Spanish language channel Univison. In another spat, the White House press secretary publicly criticized the network for not airing Obama's health care speech, a move it would never have considered with any other network.

While Glenn Beck is not the lone voice of dissent within Fox News (O'Reilly, Hannity and Malkin are similarly offensive), he does epitomize what is wrong with the network, and just how out of sync it is with the mainstream. His continued assault on the President which consists of a remarkable slew of accusations and innuendo (Obama is a socialist/communist/Nazi/racist), does not reflect well on the network, regardless of how right wing it is. As David Sassoon notes:

For now, Murdoch is making a short-term buck on Beck's race-baiting. Longer-term, it's a losing corporate strategy. The color of demographic change is trending darker, and companies will be forced to be sensitive not to offend their own workforce or their customers by supporting race-baiting speech with advertising dollars.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sassoon/can-murdoch-flirt-with-ra_b_277609.html

Advertisers pulling their brands from Beck's show is a signal that there are boundaries that cannot be crossed. It is a warning to Fox that their bottom line will be affected if it continues to promote such hateful speech, and that a growing cross section of the public are turning their backs on the Fox brand.

And the bottom line for Murdoch is that he cannot tolerate it for long. 

Glenn Beck is unlikely to moderate his position unless his corporate paymasters instruct him to do so. And if they do, he'll lose the base of fringe Right idiots who tune into his show on a nightly basis. Murdoch most likely understands this, and is probably crunching numbers to see how viable Beck is to Fox News in the long run. In financial terms, Beck could most aptly be compared to a derivative; indecipherable and immensely profitable in the short term, but ultimately a ticking time bomb and fast track to disaster.

Ben Cohen is the Editor of TheDailyBanter.com and founder of BanterMediaGroup.com

 

 

Follow Ben Cohen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thedailybanter

Comments

[Jay PA]

Here's why you're wrong and Glenn Beck will continue on for Fox News and may very well end up with a better time slot:
Fox News occupies the Top 10 spots on cable news among Total Viewers:

8pm - O'Reilly Factor — 3,188,000
9pm - Hannity — 2,341,000
5pm - Glenn Beck — 2,053,000
10pm - On the Record — 1,950,000
6pm - Special Report — 1,889,000
7pm - Fox Report — 1,757,000
11pm - O'Reilly Factor — 1,579,000
9am - America's Newsroom — 1,399,000
4pm - Your World — 1,389,000
3pm - Studio B — 1,169,000

It just might be my imagination, but on Facebook where Huffington Post encourages it's followers/readers to sign-up via a link, Beck has a fan base of over 400,000. Huffington is in the ballpark of 46,000. I am sure that their are more main stream, capitalist loving, Pro-American companies willing to sponsor a show or a guy who generates numbers like he's doing in such a short time on FoxNews.

Also, he's got 2 back to back NYT best sellers. If he's such a fringe guy, why would such a left wing administration act on every "conspiracy" that Glenn brings to the forefront that modern day "journalists" can't seem to grasp. The NYT adopts an overseer to closely watch Fox News. They could improve readership by just printing on the front page last night's Fox News transcripts. It would show a higher standard of journalistic integrity as well.

[SimonSezz]

You have got to be kidding...­..........­..So many words to prove you are a non thinker

[SimonSezz]

Or should I say neocon non thinker

[Garybot]

Thank you Jay PA - fanned and faved. Appreciate your comments.

[ReedYoung]

"Also, he's got 2 back to back NYT best sellers."

I bet you don't know anybody who bought either. Of course, on the Internet, you can claim you and all your friends bought them both, but it's a well-documented fact that News Corporation and other extreme wrong-wing organizations buy their own books to get them onto best-seller lists, then give them away at their propaganda events because that's the only way to get them out of warehouses.

[chancho24]

Obama declining to appear on FixedNews was sweeeeet!

[Garybot]

Yeah - made him look too scared to tackle the scary questions he might get.

[alenaspoppa]

You mean "too BUSY to tackle the STUPID questions he WOULD get."

[canobserv]

well..........I guess boycotts and write in campaigns can work.........good to know......­..........
..........­..........­.people...­.(consumer­s).....hav­e power in numbers...­..........­...who are the sponsors of Fox "news" again?

[ThankGodhesgone]

If ratings is your only measure of success, it's not very meaningful.

I'm sure more people watch car racing, wrestling and football than people who watch Ken Burns series on the Civil War and the US National Parks or Masterpiece Theater on PBS.

I'm not denigrating car racing and sports in general, but the former is for emotional excitement. The latter is for thoughtful learning experiences.

Beck is the former (admitted clown) and Maddow, Washington week in review and other non shout -a thons are designed for thoughtful analysis. They may not get the ratings Beck does, but they do provide mature ideas and dialog for the public discourse instead of the latest tin foil hat conspiracy.

[jackiero]

It is when you're a TV network. They don't cancel super-successful shows that attract viewers and high ad dollars. That being said, Beck going away won't alter my life at all. I watch Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and all the others regardless.

[paul1976]

Well said!!

[SimonSezz]

Very well said.......TGHG

[David2]

Murdoch will not get rid of Glenn Beck as long as there is a public draw for him. The advertising exodus is temporary, and in fact only pertains to his show, NOT to FoxNews in general. Those same sponsors will continue to pay FoxNews, just not for Beck's program.

At some point the outrage will die down and the sponsors will come back, and as long as Murdoch has billions and as long as viewers still watch Beck, he still has a job there.

[FantasticFourFan]

Ratings will trump sales at least for the time being. Unfortunately, it may even bring some advertisers back. But the real question is, how long can it last? Rush Limbaugh had a popular TV show in the mid-nineties and it only lasted a couple years. I think Beck has peaked. It will be interesting to see where he will be a year from now. His star has risen too quickly. He may be looking down the ratings barrel a couple years from now, if not before then.

[daultman463]

Rush`s show lasted for a couple of years,got very good ratings.His show was not cancelled,he simply didn`t want to do the radio show,the tv show, his newsletter at the time,and his appearances that he was selling out.

[billhodges]

You have a point about peaking but the future success will be based on what he does with his show to maintain at least steady audience numbers.

I suspect that Fox is still making money with Beck and will continue to maintain that for the coming year. The Boycott has had minimal effect no matter the banter that it has. Look at the show and you see a steady slate of ads, and the remainder of Fox is still steady as well.

Fox is here to stay!

[Garybot]

Bill - are you following me or am I following you? LOL

[Garybot]

I believe Rush just celebrated 20 years of doing his show.

Do any of you ever check ANYTHING ??

[ladycubsfan]

Almost every public place I go that has a television, it is set on Fox News. I think that's suspicious, because in most places, no one is even watching. I change the channel whenever possible. I know there are a lot of right wing nuts out there who only watch Fox News, in lockstep. Of course you're going to get high ratings when that happens. But the MAJORITY of Americans don't watch just one news program. Most of us get our news from a variety of sources and Fox News isn't one of them. Besides, Fox doesn't report the news, they spew hate, propaganda and lies. I read their transcripts on other sites because I refuse to watch them.

[Lesperado]

Fox is NOT News

[Garybot]

But the name of the station is FoxNews.

So you probably won't want to correct everyone who mentions it.

[jackiero]

I get my news from a variety of sources and Fox IS one of them. Never discount the opinion you least like.

[Garybot]

I'd love to have a long conversation with a Liberal who watches Fox.

Since we can't do that here - My question would be - do you believe any of the stories that you say you "don't like"?

[Garybot]

sorry - it was "least like"

[daultman463]

You read their transcripts on other sites?I don`t mean this to be a personal attack on you but good lord! I`m a fox viewer,i also watch msnbc,i`m on the HP now.Why is it every time i chat or talk with a liberal about how much they hate fox it usually comes out that they never watch them?I hate olbermann because when i watch him i can`t take more than a few minutes before i become sick,but i try to watch him.Glenn beck is a nut at times but most of the time he is calm and believe it or not reveal some interesting things that have turned out to be true.

[jspurr01]

I am a liberal. I watch mostly CNN and Fox. I hate Fox because when I watch it, I can't take more than an hour before I become sick, but I try to watch it. (not always an hour ... sometime minutes, sometimes hours -- depending on what is on). It's funny about idealogy ... I generally don't identify so-called "left leaning" journalists as anything but moderate and fair & balanced, until someone on the right tells me so ... I am sure it works both ways. To most folks, their own viewpoint is centrist ... but with only 2 parties and only 2 sides, you gotta pick one.

[Garybot]

Thanks Daultman - I totally agree with you. And the thing is, you can tell almost immediately that they have no idea what they're talking about. And most can't prove any of what they're saying.

A lot of libs on this site like to crow about how brilliant they are, and what a great education they have. I can't agree, because I was taught to keep silent when I don't know what I'm talking about, and if you're going to say something against someone else, you'd better have proof.

I've fanned and faved you.

[Garybot]

Yeah - 'cause you libs are never in lockstep. Now that's funny!

[TSAQ]

(THE GOD OF HEAVEN) vs (Racism), and (Racism) will (never) win.


[PRESIDENT Barack Obama]

[dfranz]

What will FOX viewers do if Murdock fires Beck? They usually watch both Beck and Oreilly to get the fair and balanced news they crave.

[Rodger leMonde]

They may have to lie to each other. At least until CNN dumps Lou Dobbs.

[Garybot]

I don't really know anything about Lou Dobbs. Is he a liberal?

[ResearchtheFacts]

As for Beck it was just a matter of time, shortly after he loss the first advertiser. It was down hill after that.

[balmora]

I can't imagine Fox news getting rid of Beck. Look what he does for their ratings. Beck's program currently draws more viewers than all three of the competing time-slot shows on CNN, MSNBC and HLN combined.

[Techboy308]

Just like we all slow down to look at a car crash...

[jane waters]

Am I the only one bothered that nearly every journalist, talk show and reporter on the airwaves could make any criticism of President George Bush they chose to, but Glenn Beck makes some of the very SAME comparisons to President Obama and suddenly he should be fired for voicing his opinions? Could someone explain this phenomenon to me?

"His continued assault on the President which consists of a remarkable slew of accusations and innuendo (Obama is a socialist/­communist/­Nazi/racis­t), does not reflect well on the network, regardless of how right wing it is."

Why was it okay for Bush to be accused of racism because of Katrina, compared to Hitler because of the war in Iraq, along with the slew of other accusations, when it does not 'reflect well" on a network to make accusations against President Obama?????

[minordomo]

Could you tell us which particular network accused Bush of racism over Katrina, compared Bush to Hitler over the war in Iraq and made a slew of other accusations?

[Timothy2700]

Beck didn't expose anything about Acorn..but that it helped low income (ALL RACES) Americans who wished to own a home along with a number of other needs. Their lawsuit will put to rest the whole EVILS OF ACORN to bed.

And as was stated earlier Beck will go the way of Morton Downey Jr.

[daultman463]

EXCUSE ME ? How many states are now investigating acorn?Didn`t congress along with a majority of dems. just vote to cut off their funding ?Didn`t the attorney general of one state just release that randke`s brother stole a lot more than 1 million dollars?Why do you think randke went on fox and was interview by megan kelly,who was very fair with him.Love him or hae him,beck was the one that put acorn in the open.

[mummbleswers]

I'm pretty sure it was the two "film makers" posing as pimps and prostitutes who put ACORN on blast. Now I just wish those two would do the same for Blackwater, KBR, Haliburton...

[LeftLeanWing]

Beck will end up like Mort Downey Jr.. the loudmouth conservative talk show host a few decades back.
He had gained immense popularity with his antics but eventually went to far..... and his show was pulled from stations all over the country.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Downey,_Jr.

[BryantG]

Mort Downey; I remember him. In retrospect he was the first of the loud mouth conservatives.

[Chic Bowdrie]

In the unlikely event Murdoch does cut him loose, Beck could go over to MSNBC. I'd be a win/win for them. They would finally get some decent ratings AND claim to be more fair and balanced.

[Billetboux]

Beck's viewership was built on the refusal of media to report on ACORN and other underhanded operations kept hidden from the public. Love him or hate him..give him credit for putting information out to the public when almost all other outlets ignores or refuses to report it.

[tierone]

Really? You really buy into that already-debunked meme?

Dining Room Table says what?

[nini516]

No it was built on cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!! Let's see what he does next TV.

[Rodger leMonde]

The faults of ACORN are fly specks compared to the war profiteers that defraud the American people daily to the tune of billions of dollars.
Remember the electric showers? Why isn't Beck all over that? Some patriot.

[davemartin7777]

Oh my goodness, finally an article on Rupert Murdock.