There is a rivalry at work here. Levin is good friends with Hannity, who views Beck as his #1 rival at Fox News Channel—and in the radio syndication wars.
Until Beck arrived at Fox, Sean Hannity was widely viewed as the eventual successor to Bill O’Reilly. In fact, FNC began positioning him for that role by making him a solo host at 9 pm. I believe there was an element of truth in Alan Colmes’ stated reason for leaving the show (”Ater 12 years, I want to do other things), but the execs at Fox were more than happy to accomodate him.
By comparison, Fox had no idea that Beck would generate the audience he’s getting in the 5 pm slot. Before Beck’s arrival, 5 pm ET was the “black hole” in the Fox line-up. Various hosts in that timeslot (including John Gibson) usually ran second (or even third) against CNN or MSNBC, the cardinal sin at Fox.
From Day One, Beck has dominated the competition at 5 pm, generating prime-time numbers in that timeslot—unprecedented in cable news. Hannity has also delivered strong numbers at 9 pm, but that’s with O’Reilly’s lead-in, and against weak competition on the other cable news networks. Beck actually builds on his lead-in audience, while Hannity manages to hang on to most of the O’Reilly viewers.
That’s why Beck is now the favorite to eventually replace O’Reilly. What’s more, Bill and Beck are pals, while O’Reilly barely mentions Hannity on the air. Beck’s emergence has clearly frustrated Sean and his co-horts like Levin. That’s one reason Hannity never talks about Beck (while often mentioning Rush and Levin) and some of his friends (hello, Mr. Levin) go after Glenn.
There’s also the matter of who will (eventually) replace Rush. Both Beck and Hannity would like a crack at the 12-3pm slot, and view themselves as logical successors to El Rushbo. Lots of dollars at stake for whoever wins that one.
And, Levin has a dog in the fight, too. Let’s say that Rush decides to retire or (God forbid) something happens to him. Both ABC Radio, which syndicates Hannity and Premier Radio (syndicator for Beck and Limbaugh) would be pushing their guys for the noon-to-three slot. They would probably wind up splitting the available stations, but if Hannity moved to an earlier timeslot, ABC would offer Levin from 3-6 pm, which would mean more affiliates for him (and money).
Obviously, there are lot of big egos involved in this one. And, the battle will only intensify in the next year or so. I believe Hannity’s contract with Fox is up in 2012, and there are reports that CNN might go after him, because their current prime time line-up is a disaster. If that happens, Beck moves into the 9pm slot and becomes the undisputed successor for O’Reilly.
Good post. I suspect that you are pretty much on the money.
Hannity clearly feels very threatened by Beck and Levin and Hannity are pretty tight.