The Fading Power of Beck’s Alarms - FauxNews may dump him at end of year, due to declining ratings.

[jefferson_dem]

The Fading Power of Beck’s Alarms
By DAVID CARR

Almost every time I flipped on television last week, there was a deeply angry guy on a running tirade about the conspiracies afoot, the enemies around all corners, and how he alone seemed to understand what was under way.

While it’s true that Charlie Sheen sucked up a lot of airtime last week, I’d been watching Glenn Beck, the Fox News host who invoked Hezbollah, socialists, the price of gas, Shari’a law, George Soros, Planned Parenthood, and, yes, Charlie Sheen, as he predicted a coming apocalypse.

Mr. Beck, a conservative Jeremiah and talk-radio phenomenon, burst into television prominence in 2009 by taking the forsaken 5 p.m. slot on Fox News and turning it into a juggernaut. A conjurer of conspiracies who spotted sedition everywhere he looked, Mr. Beck struck a big chord and ended up on the cover of Time magazine and The New York Times Magazine, and held rallies all over the country that were mobbed with acolytes. He achieved unheard-of ratings, swamped the competition and at times seemed to threaten the dominion of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity at Fox.

But a funny thing happened on the way from the revolution. Since last August, when he summoned more than 100,000 followers to the Washington mall for the “Restoring Honor” rally, Mr. Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox — a greater percentage drop than other hosts at Fox. True, he fell from the great heights of the health care debate in January 2010, but there has been worrisome erosion — more than one million viewers — especially in the younger demographic.

He still has numbers that just about any cable news host would envy and, with about two million viewers a night, outdraws all his competition combined. But the erosion is significant enough that Fox News officials are willing to say — anonymously, of course; they don’t want to be identified as criticizing the talent — that they are looking at the end of his contract in December and contemplating life without Mr. Beck.

<SNIP>

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/business/media/07carr.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

1. All about the ratings, not the content.

[jefferson_dem]

4. Both, actually. Read the NYT piece. It's fascinating. FauxNews brass want him to be more "upbeat"

Joel Cheatwood, a senior vice president of development for Fox News and the executive in charge of the show, thinks it’s silly to suggest that the American viewing public’s romance with Mr. Beck is on the wane — he’s trouncing his competition — but says that keeping the show upbeat is something he discusses with Mr. Beck.

“We have talked about that, at his instigation,” Mr. Cheatwood said. “It is really important that no matter how dire he thinks things are or what horrible direction things may be going from his perspective that the show maintains a sense of hope.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/business/media/07carr.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

5. What? more "more upbeat", Get him a drum.

[Dulcinea]

19. He'll be the next Charlie Sheen. eom

[Doctor_J]

2. I stand with Malloy

and hope Beck suicides on live TV

[eleny]

6. I wouldn't be surprised if they had him on a 7-second delay

[Lastactiongyro]

10. thats my hope Could we have it a Pay per view event?

I want to get my tivio out for that

[Atman]

3. Still with the "100,000" attendence figure for his teabagger rally?

LOL.

[progressoid]

15. Apparently they're rounding up to the nearest hundred thousand.

:eyes:

[jenmito]

7. Freepers seem to have turned on him:

The old 60s, Woodstock liberals like Beck just aren’t cutting it for the “DemocRATS” anymore. They’re not radical enough. Too conservative. Tony the Weiner, Special Ed Schultz and Keith “The Freak” Olbermann are the new voices of the new millennium ‘RATs.

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I think he’s kinda run out of gas.

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It really does not matter how many views Beck has, but rather how many advertisers he has. Moreover, if those viewers are outside the 18-49 age demographic, the show becomes even less appealing to advertisers.

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Pass me a tissue. I’m all choked up.

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Too preacher like for me.

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Becoming a preacher? That is how he comes across lately.

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Yeah, I can only take that for so long. Then I O.D.

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Does he have any advertisers?

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Beck started off strong and excellently on FNC in 2009, but since last year, he’s peaked. Most of his shows these days are just endless repetitions of themes that he’s covered for years.

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BFL

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I’ve never been a huge Beck fan, but I do thank him for getting so many women involved in the process. I know so many people who had never really understood politics and the world until he came along. That being said, I have to say that whenever I stumble onto his show, he’s talking about Van Jones! What is up with that? It’s like he’s a bit obsessed!

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Back when I watched TV, I thought Greta was a better interviewer than anyone else on the network.

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You can only call for so many conspiracy theories before the views begin to question your sanity and flip the channel to a Lawrence Welk rerun.

[RandomThoughts]

8. That was explained.

Thats my point about censorship. Why would someone wonder about that.

It was in the series of posts on that day.

The Dream warrior posts.

I Am the Wizard Master! Nightmare on Elm Street Dream Warriors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtiaYVyF_18

Then the post about the apology.

Then Alice jumped in freeing those trapped by Freddy.
Although that clip isn't on youtube anymore either. So do you see why the system, and some people are going to end, because they keep trying to manipulate or hide by using something like information systems.


Has he explained in detail how marketing is used, and how labels are loaded, that would do far more then any comment on a conspiracy towards educating people.


Blinded by the light.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8cDmi7-U8


And I am still due beer and travel money and many experiences.

[Frustratedlady]

9. Didn't you hear he's leaving May 21st?

The caravan is preparing Beck's followers for end times.

[vaberella]

14. Really?! n/t

[Sheepshank]

18. that's the birthdate for a very important person in my life

...can't think of a more lovely way to start that special day that without Beck's black hole of suck on the airwaves.

[Avant Guardian]

11. Someone I work with says Beck is turning into a kook

I tell him that Beck always was a Kook, republicans are just now beginning to notice what the rest of the planet has seen for years.

[high density]

12. "The only place that really makes an impact is Fox."

That's the first true thing I've ever seen Beck say. The entire media gets its cues and framing from Fox.

[Puzzler]

13. It's amazing how many rabid Beck fans read the NYT closely enough to ...

... comment on this article.

[intaglio]

16. Couldn't the NYT have got the numbers right

because Beck summoned fewer than 100,000 people. Best estimates were 80-90,000.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

17. We might have to wait until December?????!!!

:puke: