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Advertisers dropping Glenn Beck's FNC show like flies

jal41

jal41

I guess those advertisers considered Beck to be something other than mere "entertainment".
 
jal41 said:
The serious question... is how long it will take... for Beck to be fired from his TV gig. Losing advertisers is quite serious...especially almost two dozen.
Click to expand...

Well, how long did it take for MSNBC to pull the plug on Imus, and how many sponsors had bowed out at that point?
 
While I am not fond of the Glenn Beck schtik, I doubt FauxNews is sweating bullets over this. I rarely watch FauxNews, but it's hardly overrun with "name-brand" commercials. On those rare occasions when I am subjected to the channel, I see plenty of commercials for "war videos" or "songs of the 70s" or various TimeLife GuntherRenky "as Seen on TV" products. Even if no mainstream advertisers wanted Glenn Beck placement, the "call now to place your order" ads would fill the gap. FauxNews continues to steamroll the other "news networks" in the ratings. Beck routinely quadruples the rating of his closest "news" competitor and often has more viewers than CNN/HLN/MSNBC combined. For the past few months, they have been the second or third highest cable channel of ALL CABLE NETWORKS. Out of what, maybe 200 channels?

The True Believers have flocked to their Mothership in the Age of Obama. Even if Faux could sell no ads during that hour of "early" primetime, they would probably be content just stuffing the show full of promos for their even-more highly rated primetime shows.

Heck, if I were Beck, I would go commercial-free for a few days. Nothing excites the base more than a fight. Or go crazy promoting whatever companies are still advertising. Glenn could smile and hold up some Time Life War Stories DVDs. Or a shamwow. Or one of those blankies that wrap around you with sleeves.

For one hour a day, Faux won't care. Now, if the "boycott" expands to all FNC programs.

That's where the boycot-ters messed up. One hour, who cares? It just feeds the publicity machine. 24 hours? Hmmm. Then again, the list of companies willing to forgo advertising on America's second-highest rated cable channel is mighty small.....
 
SanDiegoInExile said:
For the past few months, they have been the second or third highest cable channel of ALL CABLE NETWORKS. Out of what, maybe 200 channels?
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Curious: What's the #1 channel? I'm guessing ESPN or maybe The Weather Channel?
 
Glenn Beck, I'm sorry to say just doesn't have the charm appeal to conservatives of Rush Limbaugh. He's one of the many Rush Limbaugh wanna-bes, but unlike all the other Rush Limbaugh wanna-bes, he goes where even Rush Limbaugh won't go in his topics. He tries to appeal to the more wacked out extremist end of the right wing movement (and believe me, that IS a niche, just not one you'd want to acknowledge and certainly one you don't want to exploit.) There ain't much profit or good PR in appealing to people with a psychotic hatred of President Obama and ANY Democrat or progressive idea, no matter how much you disagree with them.

Not to mention most of the time, Glenn Beck is just plain WRONG in his assertions.......
 
SanDiegoInExile said:
Or one of those blankies that wrap around you with sleeves.
Click to expand...

Bingo!

(If you didn't get the reference, the same commercial actress is in
both spots. This from way too much RTV, with all its troubles.)
 
Re: Let's get a few things straight here......

While Beck definitely has his moments of overwrought dramatics, he's no crank. Yes, he does come off as loony sometimes - I'll give you that. But that's just schtick. His opinions are usually pretty well researched and perhaps a lot of you should do more listening to Beck himself as opposed to what MSNBC is saying about him. In fact, he accurately predicted the stock crash, credit freeze-up and resulting recession more than 6 months before it happened. Got to give credit where it's due on that one because, at the time, I wondered if he was nuts. He was not, actually.

His TV show also gets excellent ratings, particularly when you consider that it's on at 5 ET, which is mid-afternoon for most of the US. Yet he sometimes outdraws Olbermann in raw numbers. He's never said anything "hateful" or illegal. Disagreeing with the president isn't "hateful" - it's an American's right to complain. The left did it loudly for the eight years between 2001 and 2009. And, upon reading the stories about these advertisers, I am sickened by the concept that a leftist political organization (which is what it is) can put a little squeeze on them and they cry like little French girls. Perhaps it is they who should be boycotted for doing what they can to stifle the free exchange of ideas and opinions. And I'd say the same if it were Rachael Maddow who was the victim of such an out and out smear campaign - so this has nothing to do with whether I agree with GB or not. Sometimes, I don't.

One thing is for sure, given his increasing (not decreasing) ratings for FNC, Beck isn't going anywhere. New advertisers will replace the old ones - as ratings are ultimately what does the talking.

As for comparisons with Imus, Beck actually draws a larger audience than Imus did (and does). However, as unbelievable as it is to me, Imus was always on as a 'prestige' show. Once he made the infamous comment (for which the punishment did not fit the "crime"), that prestige wore off and he was dropped. His ratings weren't enough to get him out of it. In Beck's case, he hasn't said anything offensive - unless opinions are offensive, in which case our Speaker of the House should be boycotted too. She won't be. Anyhow, the Imus comparison is really a pretty poor analogy.

This is a smear campaign and most of his core audience is aware of it and many are pretty pissed about it.
 
The difference between Beck and the conspiracy theorists on radio/TV is he actually resonates with people who are halfway sane, and he is actually entertaining about it. The guy knows how to do good radio. TV, well...

I do wish he did more of the schtick he used to do.
 
The problem with this entire thread is that it's based on a false premise: that advertisers are dumping Beck. The articles cited quote a left-wing nutjob organization that has no concept of truth; they use lies to inflate their importance.

Many of the advertisers that ColorofChange.org, and the OP, have claimed are dumping Beck, never advertised with him in the first place. You can't lose something you never had in the first place. And others, such as Wal-Mart, who claim that they are removing advertising from Beck, claim that they are removing advertising from all opinion-based shows.

Sorry, this is a non-story. Left-wing Beck bashers get fooled again.
 
dhett said:
The problem with this entire thread is that it's based on a false premise: that advertisers are dumping Beck. The articles cited quote a left-wing nutjob organization that has no concept of truth; they use lies to inflate their importance.

Many of the advertisers that ColorofChange.org, and the OP, have claimed are dumping Beck, never advertised with him in the first place. You can't lose something you never had in the first place. And others, such as Wal-Mart, who claim that they are removing advertising from Beck, claim that they are removing advertising from all opinion-based shows.

Sorry, this is a non-story. Left-wing Beck bashers get fooled again.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and I'm (somewhat) left-wing person, though I actually find Beck entertaining...maybe once a week and in short doses.

I'm always amazed that anybody - left wing or right wing - pushes for official or unofficial boycotts by advertisers. All it does is give the target more publicity and higher ratings. If some advertisers leave, others will rush in.

As for Fox News - as long as a liberal Democrat is in the White House - they will be flying high - especially the Obama-bashiing commentators - O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity, and Huckabee...and all the hangers-on like Dick Morris. Obama is the bread on their table.

Remember when conservative talk radio got so HUGE? It was during the Clinton presidency.
 
Re: Let's get a few things straight here......

BRNout said:
Yet [Beck] sometimes outdraws Olbermann in raw numbers.
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That's pretty easy to do since Fox News is on almost every "basic" cable/satellite package while you have to go up a notch (and pay more) for MSNBC. When MSNBC shows start beating Fox News, then you've got a story.

As regards Whole Foods CEO John "Wackey" Mackey, he's an idiot. When you run a company that appeals to granola-munching hippie liberals, and when these granola-munching hippie liberals make up a HUGE percentage of your customer base, you don't go out into the public square and say "You know what guys? I think your granola-munching hippie liberal ideas are really stupid. But keep shopping with us. Even during this recession. When our produce is still, like, 4 times more expensive than comparable stuff you can pick up at Krogers or Safeway."

This guy belongs in the Bob Nardelli Idiot-CEO Hall of Fame.
 
The only Fox "News" show that shows up in the cable networks ratings is Bill-0.

Then I don't spend my time watching the cable "news" networks. News supposed to be boring. For example News Hour, BBC America Newshour, and Dem Now.
 
DToTheJ said:
Well, how long did it take for MSNBC to pull the plug on Imus, and how many sponsors had bowed out at that point?
Click to expand...

The only reason MSNBC pulled the plug on Imus was because of the controversy generated after his remarks about a female college basketball team, plus the pressure put on MSNBC from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Otherwise I believe that Imus would still be on that network because he did have an audience. He was more entertaining that "Morning Joe."

What I find amusing, coming from a background in radio, is the number of radio personalities that are now filling time on cable television. It's like payback for the number of local radio stations that have fired local news personnel and instead rely on local TV for news.
 
Re: Let's get a few things straight here......

raptusregaliter said:
That's pretty easy to do since Fox News is on almost every "basic" cable/satellite package while you have to go up a notch (and pay more) for MSNBC. When MSNBC shows start beating Fox News, then you've got a story.
Click to expand...

That's not true of most cable systems - if it's the case with yours, then it's an anomaly. In the past 3 years, I've lived in 3 states and traveled to dozens and if there was FNC on basic cable, MSNBC and CNN were right next to it. In fact, I have yet to visit a place that doesn't have MSNBC on the same tier as CNN and Fox News. So your statement/assumption is a non-'factor'.

If it were truly an issue, believe me it would be all over the liberal media about how unfair things are to MSNBC. No way - with NBC Universal's clout, big cable providers are muscled into carrying not only MSNBC but CNBC and sometimes tertiary networks like Shop NBC and CNBC International.

willcail said:
The only Fox "News" show that shows up in the cable networks ratings is Bill-0.
Click to expand...

Another inaccurate statement. Fox's entire evening beats everyone else in the cable news racket: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/. I will give you 1/2 credit for accurately naming their #1 show, however.
 
Re: Let's get a few things straight here......

BRNout said:
raptusregaliter said:
That's pretty easy to do since Fox News is on almost every "basic" cable/satellite package while you have to go up a notch (and pay more) for MSNBC. When MSNBC shows start beating Fox News, then you've got a story.
Click to expand...

That's not true of most cable systems - if it's the case with yours, then it's an anomaly. In the past 3 years, I've lived in 3 states and traveled to dozens and if there was FNC on basic cable, MSNBC and CNN were right next to it. In fact, I have yet to visit a place that doesn't have MSNBC on the same tier as CNN and Fox News. So your statement/assumption is a non-'factor'.

If it were truly an issue, believe me it would be all over the liberal media about how unfair things are to MSNBC. No way - with NBC Universal's clout, big cable providers are muscled into carrying not only MSNBC but CNBC and sometimes tertiary networks like Shop NBC and CNBC International.

willcail said:
The only Fox "News" show that shows up in the cable networks ratings is Bill-0.
Click to expand...

Another inaccurate statement. Fox's entire evening beats everyone else in the cable news racket: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/. I will give you 1/2 credit for accurately naming their #1 show, however.
Click to expand...

While Comcast may not be "most" systems, it is definitely not an "anomaly"

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09184/981453-67.stm

No, it's not just Pittsburgh, it's so in the Boston area as well. As well as Portland, OR. And Denver. And CT....
 
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