Glenn Beck ends his run with Fox News. What's next?
Glenn Beck鈥檚 last show on Fox News aired Thursday. Much of it had a good-bye-to-all-that valedictory tone. For instance, the talk host ran an opening video composed of quick clips of past shows 鈥� Glenn singing while wearing a Viking headdress, Glenn letting fake snakes out a can, Glenn talking in front of a photo of a big field of sunflowers, etc. It was, , 鈥渓ike the video you鈥檇 play on the last day of summer camp (鈥楻emember that time Glenn won Capture the Flag? Aw, I鈥檒l remember you guys forever!鈥�)."
But the colorful conservative populist did take a few shots at favorite targets in his final hour on traditional TV 鈥� like Jon Stewart, the Comedy Central host who鈥檚 been feuding with Fox News. Beck noted that his opening monologue typically runs about 21 minutes, while Stewart鈥檚 takes six. To help fill that time Beck has two writers, while Stewart has dozens.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to speak from the heart,鈥� said Beck, who鈥檚 been known to tear up on air.
But OK, we get it, the Fox gig is over. It鈥檚 on to the next thing. What鈥檚 the plan now for a guy whose ratings have declined 23 percent over the past year but can still command two million viewers at five in the afternoon?
A THREE-SIDED CHALKBOARD. , that鈥檚 what. Beck is starting up a two-hour Internet streaming show for paying customers in the fall. Like Oprah, he鈥檚 apparently tired of being anybody鈥檚 employee, and he鈥檚 going into the media production business himself. Rest assured that the production values on his new net venture will be cutting edge. Instead of the school chalkboard Beck used on Fox to outline his theories 鈥� such as George Soros鈥檚 plot to bring down America 鈥� his new show willl feature a fancy new three-sided spinning chalkboard designed by GBTV鈥檚 staff. He showed off the design on a preview video.
鈥淵es, we buy chalk by the case,鈥� he said in his final Fox appearance.
A CLOTHING LINE. It鈥檚 true. Beck is aiming to do for relaxed sports clothing what Paul Newman did for salad dressing 鈥� use it as a means to create lots of cash for charity. His clothing line will be called 鈥�1791 鈥� The Original Blueprint鈥�. (The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, took effect in 1791.)
Beck said on his GBTV preview video that he鈥檚 going to attempt to manufacture his snappy-looking shirts in America to try and help create jobs in some distressed communities. The logo, which is featured prominently on the stuff he shows off to the camera, is a skull and crossbones, with a crown over it. You can see it on the clothing line鈥檚 own .
MERCURY ONE. This is what Beck termed his big project 鈥� a charity that will help communities prepare for and/or recovery from disasters, natural and otherwise. He hasn鈥檛 fully described this yet, though we鈥檙e sure he鈥檒l fill in the blanks once his new web show goes live in September. Beck says on his preview video that Mercury One will involve such things as stockpiling bottled water and chain saws, say, at locations in the tornado belt where they might need them. The project will have its own logo, which looks a little like a Purple Heart with the word 鈥渃harity鈥� written on it, superimposed on a drafting compass.
All this together is why he鈥檚 leaving Fox after only 29 months, Beck said.
鈥淭his show has become a movement. It鈥檚 not a TV show and that鈥檚 why it does not belong on television anymore. It belongs in your heart. It belongs in your neighborhood.鈥�
Access to all of GBTV will cost $9.95 a month. Access to only Beck鈥檚 daily show will be $4.95 a month.
