Glenn Beck, Fox's talk titan, considers starting his own channel like Oprah Winfrey OWN
BY Aliyah Shahid
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, March 23rd 2011, 3:00 PM

Get ready for Glenn Beck - 24/7.

The conservative talk titan is mulling the possibility of starting his own cable TV channel when his Fox News Channel contract runs out at the end of this year, sources close to Beck told The New York Times.

The 47-year-old firebrand declined to discuss his future plans, but issued a statement praising his network, saying "I have no intention whatsoever of doing the show I am doing now on Fox anywhere else."

Beck also reportedly is considering an expansion of his Internet subscription video service, "Insider Extreme."

His spokesman, Josh Raffel, would not comment on the matter.

There are several indications that the whiteboard-loving host and Fox soon could be parting ways.

One of the network's senior execs, Joel Cheatwood, is expected to join Beck's media company, Mercury Radio Arts.

And Beck and his fiery rhetoric have created a rocky relationship with Fox advertisers.

A source told the Daily News that the number of advertisers currently boycotting Beck’s program is now closing in at 400.

According to Nielsen Media Research, during the first quarter of 2011, Beck lost more than a third of his audience over last year--more than one million viewers.

Media consultant Larry Kramer said Beck faces a dilemma because "while he has shown he can draw an audience to his programming, he has had difficulty attracting advertisers because of the controversial nature of his content, which is exactly what draws his audience."

If Beck goes for his own channel, he'd be following in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey, who launched OWN earlier this year in approximately 80 million homes.

Marketing strategist Marc Babej told Forbes that a Beck channel would be a "nonstarter."

"With OWN, Oprah Winfrey has made a play for a personality-driven network. However, Oprah has four key advantages: She's associated with entertainment, not politics; she's almost universally liked, she has been around for a long time," Babej said.

"Fourth, and most importantly, Oprah has a proven track record of minting money for those who invest in her. Beck, meanwhile, is having a hard time in that crucial department."



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