This interesting article in yesterdays NY Times about Glenn Beck is quite intriguing. Glenn Beck may start his own cable TV channel once his Fox News contract expires. In doing so, he would follow in the footsteps of Oprah, who also launched her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
I am intrigued by this because as the article states that "Mr. Beck...many advertisers have shunned him on Fox, in part because of a boycott that started after he called President Obama racist in 2009." If you are unable to attract advertisers, or receive government funding or have inadequate private funds, how is it possible to maintain a cable channel. Mr. Beck may have wealthy individuals behind him although that may not be so good. If he is receiving his money from his ardent supporters, then he is accountable to no one as his income is guaranteed. Compare this to being on a network in which a host's comments must be carefully weighed lest a slip occur and advertisers pull their funding (exactly what happened to Mr. Beck). Without this accountability, who knows what Mr. Beck will say and what the repercussions will be. If I had a say in the matter, I would tell Mr. Beck to re-sign with Fox.
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. On one hand he is already an accomplished entrepreneur, having founded Mercury Radio Arts, among his other bussiness endevors. However I'm curious how Fox News would feel about having having a conservative competitor on cable. That is if it takes off at all.
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