Glenn Beck Advertiser Boycott Costing Fox News $600,000 A Week

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:07 pm

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Color of Change today announced that their organized boycott of advertisers on FNC’s Glenn Beck is costing the network $600,000 a week, even though Beck just set a personal record for viewers last Thursday, his show as gone from $1.06 million a week in ad revenue in early August to $492,000 last week.

Color of Change said that according to industry sources the boycott has hit Fox News in the wallet, “Estimated advertising revenue [the total amount of advertising money being spent during a block of commercial time for a program] was collected on a week-by-week basis for a period of two months. According to the data collected, the amount of money spent by national advertisers on Beck’s program per week was at its highest at approximately $1,060,000, for the week ending August 2, 2009. ColorOfChange.org launched their campaign at the end of that week and since then, 62 advertisers have distanced themselves from Beck. Data collected for the week ending September 6, 2009 shows Beck’s estimated ad revenue at $492,000, equal to a loss of $568,000. ”

James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org said, “”Fox News Channel has consistently claimed they haven’t lost revenue as advertisers abandon Glenn Beck, but the numbers prove otherwise. Fox News Channel has a limited amount of ad positions. If 62 companies refuse to run ads on two of their 24 hours of programming, they are losing inventory. No matter how high Beck’s ratings have been lately, advertisers still see Beck as toxic and don’t want him associated with their brands. There is no way that Fox News Channel is making the money they should be making with Glenn Beck.”

Rucker pointed out that Beck’s top three advertisers last week were, “Beachbody (creator of P90X Exercise Equipment), Egg Genie and Telebrands (creator of Jupiter Jack).” The boycott has to be hitting FNC in the pocketbook. A look at the low level companies advertising on Beck’s show makes it obvious that the network isn’t getting top dollar for Beck’s ad space.

Huge ratings are worthless in television if you can’t get the advertising revenue that comes with the increase in viewers. The right wing may be showing their support to Beck by tuning, but it is meaningless if revenue doesn’t follow. ColorofChange is correct to point out that the boycott is hurting Fox News. Beck value to the network decreases as each week of the boycott passes.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association