The Beck Factor at Fox: Staffers say comments taint their work

Washington Post ^ | 15 Mar 2010 | Howard Kurtz

[jazminerose]

That article is almost 2 weeks old.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

I’ve always felt there was a friction between Hannity and Beck. Beck is on his network, yet you never hear Hannity mention Beck ever. I sometimes wonder when Hannity talks about some people being totally different off the air than on the air if he’s not thinking about Beck.

Personally, I like Beck far more than Hannity. I wonder if there is not a little professional jealousy with Hannity because contrary to what he says, I think he has a huge ego.

[driftdiver]

ratings rule, Beck draws huge ratings. Who cares if Apple doesn’t advertise. Their target market is drinking cool aid anyway.

All a bunch of hype.

[Madame Dufarge]

Rush explained on his radio show one day that television doesn’t allow the spontaneity that radio does. Makes sense.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Has FOX ever entertained the idea of giving Rush an hour?"

I think a more pertinent question is has Rush ever given though to doing TV again. I think his TV show in the 90's has soured him on TV. Not because most stations stuck him at 2:00 AM. But because he doesn't have the creative control he has on the radio.

[chickadee]

I agree that his is informative - I must say at this point that I don’t have cable, so am only familiar with Beck’s radio program.

As far as humor, while teaching and making a point, I much prefer Mark Steyn.

[for-q-clinton]

Becks ratings are more than respectable. Keep in mind he’s in the 5pm slot when most are returning howe from work. If he had Oreilly’s slot he’d be in the top spot. But then he could easily be painted as the face of Fox.

[fireman15]

I definately agree that this is just another liberal hit piece aimed at convincing FOX to put pressure on their hosts.

I am glad that Beck called Obama a racist. He has spent most of his life hanging out with radicals. He has hidden the documentation that could be used to get a clearer picture of who he is. My assumption is that Obama is a racist.

[Dallas59]

Apple lost a sale today.

[Presbyterian Reporter]

Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.

---

Who are these Network Executives Kurtz writes about in this hit piece????

[chickadee]

I don’t think Rush wants to give up his cushy set up in Florida - and who could blame him. Beck and Sean Hannity receive death threats on a regular basis. Rush has paid his dues. He is the gray eminence:)

[techrules2002]

I must be missing something. I thought advertisers would go with what the people watch. While Fox is not #1 they seem to have a wide viewership. They actually seem to be the lead in the 18-54 viewer group which I would think would encompass most of the tech buyers. What am I missing?

http://tvbythenumbers.com/category/ratings/nielsen-network-tv-ratings-season-to-date

[Old Teufel Hunden]

I wonder how many articles have been written from the MSM about Keith Olberman’s statements or Crissy Mathews statements... crickets are now chirping...

[FrankR]

"Give Beck’s spot to Rush. Problem solved."

I disagree, and here's why:

1. Rush had a TV show at one time, it's not his medium;

2. Radio is "portable"...I can listen to Rush anywhere, in my car, on my "walkman", anywhere. However, to see him on TV I have to be there in front of the TV and watch (or Tivo it). With Radio you can do other things WHILE you listen, on TV, you have to watch and pay attention.

3. Why should he give up the good thing he's got? He left NY to get away from the libworld there, he broadcasting from, or near, his home in Florida, and things are a lot cheaper down there.

I say leave him on Radio, let Beck have the TV, he's a better clown.

[pnh102]

Now I hate to quote Michael Jordan BUT when he was ask why he does not talk politics he said; “Conservatives buy tennis shoes too”

Nothing wrong with quoting someone who is not only a respectable athelte (compared to people who play the sport today) but is also an accomplished businessman in his own right.

And Jordan is quite correct in his assessment. Why would he piss off half of his potential customers?

[for-q-clinton]

He has guests and most of these people are well-educated, articulate authors.

I like Beck's show so don't take this the wrong way, but I find his guests are starting to repeat too often and they lose the interest overtime. The theme apears to be Beck has his friends on the show a lot...but why? Can he not get anyone else?

I noticed that on Oreilly too. I don't watch Oreilly, but last week was in a hotel on the west coast and nothign else was on during that time. And he appears to bring in a lot of fox news guys to come in and repeat what we heard all day. It gets old and makes you wonder if the left boycotting these shows will have an impact as less people are willing to go on them.

[dennisw]

Last I saw, and if I read it correctly, Beck’s ratings are very respectable. If Apple objects to sound Conservative principles, it’s good for them to pull out so everyone can take note of it.
___________________

You can have great ratings but who is advertising with you? Cheesy vego-matic advertising instead of Toyota can hurt your bottom line. I see more low-rent advertisements on Fox. Many companies sort of boycott them and sometimes only because they have liberal advertising directors who do the media buys or it can be outside advertising companies they employ that do the media buy. Limbaugh and Hannity were ecstatic when GM finally advertised with them. GMs put an end to that

The real money is in getting advertising from nationwide corporations such as AT&T and Toyota. Progressive Insurance is big and lefty owned but I see them on Fox all the time

[for-q-clinton]

But drudge just posted a link to it and so it’s now getting attention.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Beck has called Geert Wilders a “fascist” and has ridiculed the Birthers.....why is the Liberal media upset?

Beck no attacks conservatives and those who point out Islamic Terrorism and extremism.

Beck probably spends to much time with O’Reilly and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (the terrorist supporting Saudi prince who part owns FNC and NewsCorp)

[for-q-clinton]

I don’t have time to read the article. Help me out, because this doesn’t pass the smell test. Fox has more viewers than the others combined (or something like that) and yet they can’t charge advertisers a higher rate? That’s BS. It’s one thing if libtard companies don’t want to be associated with Fox, but the rate has nothing to with that — unless ALL companies don’t want to be associated. The rate is based on number of viewers.

Well to be fair the #'s don't dictate the rate. The rate is determined by supply and demand. If no one is wanting to advertise then they can't charge higher rates. The point the article is making is that the smaller companies can't afford to pay big bucks (like Apple) so the rate has to be lower or they will go with only fox commercials to fill the void.