Glenn Beck Might Start His Own Cable Channel
What will right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck do when his contract with Fox News runs out in December? Maybe he will re-sign with Fox. Maybe he will become a hairdresser! Or maybe he will start his own cable channel.
That's what The New York Times reports that he's been "contemplating," at any rate. Beck and Fox don't have a terrific relationship, and there's a good chance he'll leave the network at the end of the year. In which case, he's got a couple options, the first being The Glenn Beckwork:
Mr. Beck has been contemplating a cable channel of his own for more than a year, according to the people who have spoken with him about it, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Mr. Beck may not be able to actively pursue such an arrangement until his Fox contract is up.
Presuming he leaves, Mr. Beck could follow a road paved by Oprah Winfrey when she started OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network in January. He could schedule his own talk show and the shows of others on one of the many cable channels seeking a ratings jolt. Or, following Martha Stewart's road to the Hallmark Channel, he could start smaller, taking over a few hours of a channel's schedule.
But why would Beck want to do that? It's a risky venture that, in the end, doesn't offer a lot of reward—especially since cable is advertiser-dependent, and, in the end, Gold Line alone can't pay the bills. Another, likely more profitable, option, the Times points out, would be to expand his subscription website Insider Extreme, which currently broadcast's Beck's radio show, as well as others, and makes an estimated $4 million a year. Or he could become a hairdresser. It's Glenn Beck's world—we're just living in it!
