Beck Leaving Fox News

Breaking-  Political commentator and radio and television host Glenn Beck will be leaving Fox News sometime this year.  Beck, who has been doing daily shows on Fox since early 2009, was reportedly on the outs with Fox recently and was reportedly considering launching his own media conglomerate.  His contract is up with Fox this December.

Mr. Beck

The New York Times reports:

Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, which have sometimes clashed over the making of “Glenn Beck,” will “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 companies said in the statement. 

As expected, a senior Fox News executive, Joel Cheatwood, will join Mr. Beck at Mercury Radio Arts starting later this month. 

The statement was briefly posted on The Blaze, a Web site owned by Mr. Beck, but it was then taken down. Representatives for Fox and Mr. Beck did not immediately explain why. 

Mr. Beck is a hugely popular figure on Fox News, averaging 2.2 million viewers each weekday, though his ratings have fallen somewhat in the last year. He is beloved by his fans for speaking out against what he sees as threats from progressives. His opponents — and there are many — condemn him for his conspiratorial views and apocalyptic predictions. 

Almost immediately after Mr. Beck’s announcement, the progressive group Media Matters for America, which combats Fox on a daily basis, said it was “no surprise” that he was leaving, given that many advertisers had shunned Mr. Beck’s show ever since he labeled President Obama a racist in the summer of 2009. (Fox said that the advertisers simply moved over to other programs on the network.)

And, cough, not to toot my own horn, but I wrote a month ago that this could plausibly happen.

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