Glenn Beck is leaving Fox this month, being too wacko even for them, but his fans will still be able to watch him. There is a catch, besides rotting their brains listening to him. He is starting his own internet network, and will charge to watch. Beck finds advantages to the new format:
The on-demand nature of an Internet network was one of the appeals to Mr. Beck and the president of Mercury, Chris Balfe.
Also appealing, Mr. Balfe said, was not having to worry about whether the shows that lead into and out of Mr. Beck’s show have “exactly the same sort of tone.” (That was perceived to be a problem at Fox, since Mr. Beck’s conservative sermons and speeches at 5 p.m. were followed by a straightforward political newscast at 6 p.m.)
The lead-in and lead-outs do not matter, Mr. Balfe said, because “we’re not trying to keep viewers, we’re trying to please subscribers.”
Mr. Beck pointed out another potential advantage: “It’s my network, so if I want the show to run 2 hours and 15 minutes one night, it will.”
The charge will be around $4.95 per month to watch Beck or $9.95 per month to watch the entire network. Personally I think that access to all the material on Netflix for $7.99 per month is a far better deal. Netflix provides hours of a wide variety of movies and television shows. Beck provides hours of recreating old Bircher conspiracy theories.
