TPMMuckraker

Glenn Beck To ‘Transition Off’ His TV Program

Eric Lach April 6, 2011, 12:44 PM

Fox News and Glenn Beck’s production company have announced that Beck will “transition off” his daily television program later this year, and that the two companies plan to 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.”

The announcement was posted earlier on Beck’s website The Blaze, but at time of writing, that link appears to have been pulled down. Fox News has provided TPM with a copy of the release:

FOX NEWS AND MERCURY RADIO ARTS ANNOUNCE NEW AGREEMENT 
NEW YORK— FOX News and Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, are proud to announce that they will work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the FOX News Channel (FNC) as well as content for other platforms including FOX News’ digital properties. Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.

Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of FOX News said, “Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anybody’s standards. I look forward to continuing to work with him.”  
Glenn Beck said, “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.”  

Joel Cheatwood, SVP/Development at FOX News, will be joining Mercury Radio Arts effective April 24, 2011. Part of his role as EVP will be to manage the partnership and serve as a liaison with FOX News.  

Ailes said, ”Joel is a good friend and one of the most talented and creative executives in the business. Over the past four years I have consistently valued his input and advice and that will not stop as we work with him in his new role.”  

“Glenn Beck” is consistently the third highest rated program on cable news. For the 27 months that “Glenn Beck” has aired on FOX News, the program has averaged more than 2.2 million total viewers and 563,000 viewers 25-54 years old, numbers normally associated with shows airing in primetime, not at 5pm. “Glenn Beck” has dominated all of its cable news competitors since launch.

Late Update: Howard Kurtz at The Daily Beast calls the move “a near-total divorce.” Kurtz cites “insiders” who say the continuing relationship between Fox News and Beck’s company to amount to a “handful” of specials. And he says that both Fox News and Beck himself are happy to end the show.

This post has been changed since publication.

Eric Lach

Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website’s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl(at)talkingpointsmemo.com