Media Training Question # 91 – Why Did The Decision To Fire Glenn Beck from Fox News Take So Long?

April 8, 2011 - PRLog -- (To see the full story and video go to http://www.mediatraining.me)  

Although I predicted the demise of the relationship between Glenn Beck and Fox News months ago I am not here to brag or take any kind of credit for seeing what clearly many saw long ago.  What I find a bit confusing was why it took so ling for it to happen.  Their statement aside, and of course both Beck and Fox News are being extremely charming about their split and speaking eloquently about their future projects together, Fox News waited too long to pull the trigger and it has cost them.

What did the Glenn Beck relationship cost Fox News?  Money and viewers, and coveted advertising relationships.  Glenn Beck’s recent pronouncement that President of the United States Barack Obama, “hates white people” was the final straw for Fox News. Chairman Roger Ailes, clearly not as smart as one would expect, waited way too long to make this decision and it has harmed the network and helped bolster the common perception, and rightfully so in my opinion, that Fox News cares less about truth and more about money.  They sucked every penny out of Beck that they could and then in an ill advised delay ended up losing millions of dollars and thousands of viewers in the process.  

What does this say about the viewers of Fox News?  Well, from my analytical perspective, even the very conservative news consumer has their limit on what they can tolerate.  Yes, we always will be attracted to people who support our point of view and there are examples on both sides of the political spectrum that have their fringe “supporters” in the media, but Glenn Beck is the King of partisan news commentators and his insistence on driving hatred and paranoia at the center of his philosophy has finally fallen out of favor.

What does all this say about Beck’s/Fox News Advertisers?  Even they had their limits and advertising is all about how many eyes they can get to and Fox News and Glenn Beck had lots of eyes, that is true and I will give credit when and where it’s due and Beck took his time slot and doubled the viewership and gave advertisers what they need, eyes.  He found a formula that worked but instead of perfecting his message he decided to push the envelope as hard and fast as he could, and with the permission of his bosses at Fox News sped quickly to the top spot in his time slot but that wasn’t good enough.  His ego, personal greed and his love for attention took over and before anyone could slow him down he drove off the cliff.  Fox watched from a distance and waited to see what would happen.  That was not a smart move but my concern is not for the management of Fox News or the money they have lost.

I understand partisan hosts better than most do mostly because I was a partisan host myself, and proudly so.  I did drive my message from my point of view and reported the facts as they were and then put my interpretation on them.  That was my job.  I did say some outrageous things but I always did so with facts and the admonition that if you proved me wrong I would literally eat my words. I never ate one.  I did put myself out there for critique and made myself a target but I did but with a sense of responsibility, something Glenn Beck has no clue of.

The conservative media is well entrenched in hatred and misinformation and there are many examples, interestingly most of them on Fox News.  Sean Hannity, Neil Cavuto, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and many others.  The left does not have nearly as many popular hosts because there are just not that many left leaning newsies out there.  

Glenn Beck’s radio show is shrinking.  His television show is gone and he won’t be back on television for a long time, if ever again.  His 15 minutes are not over but he has taken a pretty fatal hit to his career and ultimately his pocketbook, although he has made millions and money should never be a concern for him again.  I could wax on about the political implication of all this but I will save that for another venue because this post is about the failure to communicate a message effectively and with consistency and responsibility.

Glenn Beck forgot what got him to where he was.  He does have talent as a radio show host.  He is a very good orator and he is very, very intelligent but he believed his own public relations spin and allowed that to change him and whether he believes all the hype about him or not he did allow it to take him to a place that served no one well, especially the consumer who made the decision to turn him off.  Ultimately the viewers and listeners voted the way they are supposed to, they stopped giving him eyes and ears and at the end of the day this is a business and Glenn Beck failed to sustain he opportunity and the way you are punished for that in business is you get fired.  Glenn Back was fired and it’s way over due.

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As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. His list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message. http://www.mediatraining.me