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How The Color Of Change Boycott Brought Down Glenn Beck
After Fox News announced that it will be mercifully euthanizing Glenn Beck’s program, attention has quickly turned to how Beck managed to fall so quickly from TV star to a guy who is going to do some digital stuff for FNC. The answer can be found in the Color of Change advertiser boycott. The successful boycott cost Fox News millions of dollars, and made sure that the network had zero incentive to keep Beck around.
It all started on July 28 of 2009 when Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist on Fox and Friends:
In response ColorofChange.org launched a boycott of Glenn Beck’s advertisers that met with immediate success. Within a month Beck lost virtually all of his A-List advertisers, “Aegon, Ashley Furniture, Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids), Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank (a unit of GMAC Financial Services), Ancestry.com, Applebee’s, AT&T, Bank of America, Best Buy, Binder & Binder, Blaine Labs Inc., Broadview Security, Campbell Soup Company, Capital One, ConAgra, Clorox, CVS, The Dannon Company, DirecTv, Discover, Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Farmers Insurance Group, GEICO, General Mills, HSBC, Humana, ICAN Benefit Group Insurance, Infiniti, Jelmar (manufacturer of CLR All-Purpose Cleaner) Johnson & Johnson (makers of Tylenol), Jordan McKenna Debt Counseling Network, Kraft, Lawyers.com, Lowe’s, Luxottica Retail (retail parent of LensCrafters and Pearle Vision), Men’s Wearhouse, Mercedes-Benz, NutriSystem, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack, Re-Bath, Regions Financial Corporation, Sam (Store and Move), SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, Simplex Healthcare (creator of the Diabetes Care Club), Sprint, State Farm Insurance, Traveler’s Insurance, Travelocity, United States Postal Service, The UPS Store, Verizon Wireless, Vonage, Wal-Mart and Wyeth Consumer Healthcare.”
By mid-September 2009, the boycott was costing News Corp $600,000 a week. Despite the financial losses Rupert Murdoch stuck with Beck because his ratings were still high, and the company believed that Beck was right. However Beck’s ratings plunged in 2010, and the advertisers never came back.
After Beck had lost half of his audience by July of 2010, 15 of the 27 ad slots on his show were unpaid ads. The situation continued to get worse. By March 2011, 400 advertisers were boycotting Glenn Beck’s program. In the first quarter of 2011, Beck was still bleeding viewers to the tune of 500,000 a night.
Perhaps the ideologically driven Fox News would have continued to subsidize Beck if people were still watching, but the combination of no ad dollars and declining viewership numbers lead the network to pull the plug.
If Glenn Beck’s show was still a profitable venture, it would still be on the air. The truth is that once the Color of Change advertiser boycott took away the financial viability of the Glenn Beck program, it was really only a matter of time before the ratings fell, Fox News pulled the plug, and basically reassigned Beck to an area where he can still be profitable for the network.
Without being on television every day, the Glenn Beck brand will take a serious hit. Beck was well on his way to potentially being the next king of cable news, before he called Obama a racist, and the subsequent advertiser boycott destroyed his ability to generate revenue for Fox News. Glenn Beck will never be what he could have been. The truth is Beck and Fox were never able to come up with a strategy to reverse the boycott and bring the ad money back.
Like any business cable news revolves around money, and Color of Change demonstrated that the best way to bring about real change in the media is to hit them where it counts, on their bottom line. Fox News could have put up with the Beck circus if he was still making money for them, but without the potential upside of lucrative profit, the execs at FNC likely decided that Beck was no longer worth the hassle.
Those of you who are celebrating Glenn Beck’s departure from Fox News today owe Color of Change a big thank you for creating the financial environment that ensured Beck’s eventual demise.
Image: One Utah
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39 Responses to How The Color Of Change Boycott Brought Down Glenn Beck
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Anne
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
It’s so appropriate that Beck is paying the price for projecting his own racism onto the president. Hitting folks in the pocketbook is just as effective in 2011 as it was in 1955, when MLK spearheaded the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
neil
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Now if we could just get Limbaugh.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
quite a while ago I was tracking Glenn Becks ratings and even charting them on my website. The last couple weeks is ratings have been higher than they were when I was tracking them. he was getting up to 2.3 million people a night when before he was getting between 1.7 million and 2 million a night.
I think a goodly part of his fall from King of the world was the fact that he was spinning deeper into a depressive cycle. He has to get along just fine making really silly little scenarios out of nothing until he went into this caliphate and George Soros thing. He lied 99% of the time about George Soros and he was making stuff up about the caliphate thing as he was going along. He should’ve stuck to just keeping it lite and no one in the GOP was complaining about him.
I have a stinking feeling that somebody in the GOP got to Roger Ailes as well as the program to get rid of his advertisers
Tony
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
“Color of Change demonstrated that the best way to bring about real change in the media is to hit them where it counts”. Glenn Beck represented change in media. All this boycott did was turn back the clock to reverse that change. Mainstream media is just as liberal as it ever was. And the only opposing voices you will hear will be mouthpieces for GOP talking points. Beck was a skeptic who investigated and challenged claims made by both parties. He opened peoples eyes to the motives behind certain people and organizations. I just hope that people will continue to seek out the truth once Beck is no longer on television. The reason that Color of Change started their boycott was not because of the aforementioned comment in this article. It’s because he started a movement, opened eyes, and was a real threat to the true agenda of our president and his ilk. While they can remove him from a television slot. They cannot undo the real “change” that he has brought about. We will always be watching those in power with a skeptical eye. That is something that they cannot boycott.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
And he did it without telling the truth once. Got to admire the guy
Luke Cage
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Good Riddance to Beck and his Narcissistic traits.
Could not happen to a nicer guy Lol.
Maybe him and the Rest of the Becker’s will learn; nothing gets you in trouble more than your mouth. So now his mouth has been silenced at least on Prime Time Cable sometimes more often that not News analysts(opinion) news. Watch FOX NEWS they give more opinion on the News than actually given you the News.
mitche the kid
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
You sound like an Alex Jones fan who swears that Beck stole his schtick. And a schtick it is. The problem that is created by folks like Beck, Jones, Limbaugh, Hannity, etc is 2 fold. One, gulliable, misinformed people believe the crap they spew and two, eventually the hosts themselves…in order to appear sincere… believe it too. What goes around comes around and Beck is as dizzy as a centrifuge.
Freeman
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
We will always be watching those in power with a skeptical eye.
Yeah, just like you did when Bush/Cheney were talking about WMD’s in Iraq, right? Riiiiiiiight.
Tom
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Gee, with the NY Times on life support, as a liberal bastion of the MSM, and the ratings for CNN, MSNBC, in the bottom of the ratings, and Beck remaining in the top 3 for over 5 years, you really think boycotts did this?
What truth did he not expose Silva?. Bill Ayers? Francios Scott Piven? George Soros? Van Jones? Acorn? The Tides Foundation? Their own record is out there. Cass Susstein, Stephanie Powers? gee,..historical principles this country was founded on must scare you.
“I place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” —Thomas Jefferson
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
“George Soros? Van Jones? Acorn? The Tides Foundation?”
All of that was garbage
He exposed nothing on Bill Ayers that people didnt already know.
Yes, boycotts did this. Bye your own words he was in the top 3 for a couple years. If that was so true, why did they can hiom? Beucase he might become #2? Wait, we WAS #2.
Beck never told the truth about anything
mitche the kid
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
God???? Are you f’ng serious? Do you know God personally? The NYT is the newspaper of record. Always has been and always will be. We live in a liberal democracy. LIBERAL. Not authoritarian. Not Christianist and not conservative. Faux news is a well funded, well organized propaganda organ for the right because the network exploits the mental weaknesses and small mindedness of it’s listeners who; demeographically are elderly, paranoid, uneducated and afraid of change.
Nefti
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
I don’t care how they did it. I’M JUST GLAD HE’LL BE GONE ONCE AND FOR ALL. All he did was poison minds and make people completely ignorant with his rants. The killer? They believed his every word. THAT IS FRIGHTENING! Now that we threw out that piece of trash, I found more garbage to dispose of…the PALINaroundwithidiots TeaQueen!
Oldsun
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Hahaha it seems that you are the one drinking the Kool-Aid (by and by Jones town did not serve Kool-Aid it was Flavor Aid) what did Beck expose, it was proven that ACORN did nothing wrong, infact everybody that Beck went after did nothing wrong. Beck in his own words “I say on the air all time, ‘if you take what I say as gospel, you’re an idiot.’” cangrates Tom your an idiot!
Serenity
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I can truly say that Fox is loosing a great asset to their network, and has the saying goes you never now what you have until you loose it. Glen Beck was not only a cry in the wilderness but he was also someone that God was using to open peoples eyes, but the same has it was in time pass, most people cannot handle the true even if it slap them in their face. I will continue to pray and be a follower of the true and those that are willing to speak it.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 6th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
They know what they had, someone who was losing them a great deal of money. Money talks, assets walk
Ingarose
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 12:01 am
Wow, oh, wow. God was using Glenn Beck to open our eyes? Are you kidding?
Phantom
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
He blazed like a comet across the landscape,an omen of warning, a beacon of hope. It’s said the brightest flame burns the fastest; but, though, brief, it’s warmth and light still sustain long after it’s glory is extinguished. Memmorus Eternum.
Anne
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
The memory that will be sustained for many of us long after Beck is off the air is of someone who was becoming increasingly unhinged, with his bizarro-land conspiracy theories.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
I think the problem with those who follow beck so closely as the loyal minions that have posted your do, they follow so closely they don’t see the slide down into stupidity.
All you can do is ask them how is that caliphate thing working out for you
Phantom
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
“The prophet comes when he is needed/ and oft his lot is to go unheeded/ the worst he knows of his fate/ it to be told ‘Thou were’st right’, when ’tis too late.” Muhammed Abu Aghost
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
and you are a prime example of my statement. You follow so close you don’t see the ball changes colors
how IS that caliphate thing working out for you
Phantom
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
What’s the “caliphate thing” a reference to? (and for that matter,what ball changes colors? That’s a new metaphor to me.)
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Oh come now, your a beck follower and you dont know the caliphate thing? The massive crowds in the ME according to Beck marching and protesting, carrying signs demanding the caliphate be restored, demanding the return to the caliphate state etc etc. He lied for weeks on that one. The US is going to attack Israel and a bunch of rot.
The reference is, some follow beck so close that they dont recognize when he is lying.
Beck has come under criticism for his doomsday vision of the potential fallout from the Egyptian revolution. He has warned that the world is “being divvied up” by the “uber left” and the “Islamicists,” and that what was formerly “Ancient Babylon” could emerge as the new seat of “evil” and center of the new caliphate.
On his radio show, Beck struck back at his critics. “When I say that there’s a caliphate, that it is a desire of the Islamic extremists in the Middle East, that is not a conspiracy theory,” he said. “They want a caliphate. Look it up…so don’t talk to me about crazy conspiracy theories.”
He also added google to this silliness
Phantom
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
I don’t follow Beck; I was trying to do an “over-the-top” Beck tribute for humorous effect. Guess it wasn’t over-the-top enough. Or humorous.
Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Well you sure fooled me. Maybe you are in the wrong biz!
Phantom
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Thanks!
Oldsun
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
“If You Take What I Say As Gospel, You’re An Idiot” Glenn Beck
Jonathan
Apr. 7th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
The people that think Beck was providing useful information are fools of the highest order. The scam he was running was the same scam run by the John Birch Society and Cleon Skousen since the 50′s — take an isolated piece of information and then blow it up into a ludicrous accusation of conspiracy mixed with an assortment of dogwhistles that inflamed the racist morons. All of it was nothing more than a cover for the progressive attack on the middle class which served to enrich the likes of the Koch family and Rupert Murdoch. It is sad to realize that so many Americans can be so easily deluded.
Gloria
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 9:16 am
How can I donate to Color of Change! This has to be the best organization around. We know that money talks and people walk! Keep up the good work! I pray that Limbaugh will be next, what a total drug addict jerk he is!!
Cassandra Vert
Apr. 14th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
You should also credit @stopbeck and his Twitter campaign against Beck’s advertisers. He now works for Media Matters on the Drop Fox campaign.
Also note that Fox was perfectly willing to subsidize Beck even without advertisers as long as ratings held firm. He wasn’t there to make money, he was there to deliver a message. Beck only got shown the door when his ratings fell.
Jason Easley
Apr. 14th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
It wasn’t StopBeck or any outsider for one simple reason. Despite all the outside pressure, Rupert was happy to keep Beck on the air. It was only when the ratings fell, because the righties got bored. (The right hates Media Matters and wouldn’t be influenced by them either way), and the financial losses got to great that Beck was dumped.
No outside pressure especially from the left would make a damn bit of difference. It is all about money. If outside pressure meant a bit difference to the nets Olbermann would still be at MSNBC.
Anyone who is trying to give the left credit for bringing Beck down with pressure on FNC does not understand the media bubble that right wing consumers live in.
What CoC figured out was that Fox was not going to respond, but Beck’s advertisers would. Forget the StopBeck stuff, if the left wants to be successful, go after the money, because corporations only understand money.