The Decline of Glenn Beck. What caused it?

[Liberal_in_LA]

The Decline of Glenn Beck
What caused it?

Six months ago, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall, drawing a crowd of about 100,000. Newspapers and magazines featured the rally on front pages around the country. The next month, The New York Times Magazine devoted a cover story to him. “In record time,” the piece observed, “Beck has traveled the loop of curiosity to ratings bonanza to self-parody to sage.”

Just six months later, however, Beck seems to have traveled somewhere else entirely. His ratings and reputation are in steep decline: His show has lost more than one million viewers over the course of the past year, falling from an average of 2.9 million in January 2010 to 1.8 million in January 2011.

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What happened? Beck built a following by making outlandish, conspiratorial claims—about ACORN, Obama, and so on.

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Beck, says Zaitchik, was caught “in a vicious circle”: To keep viewers coming back, he had to keep creating new, more intricate theories. Last November, in a two-part special that indirectly invoked anti-Semitism, he accused liberal Jewish financier George Soros of orchestrating the fall of foreign governments for financial gain. During the Egyptian Revolution, Beck sided with Hosni Mubarak, alleging that his fall was “controlled by the socialist communists and the Muslim Brotherhood.” Beck is now warning viewers not to use Google, accusing the search-engine giant of “being deep in bed with the government.” In recent months, it seems, Beck’s theories became so outlandish that even conservatives—both viewers and media personalities—were having a hard time stomaching them. Now, each new idea appears to be costing Beck both eyeballs and credibility. “At some point,” says Boehlert, “it doesn’t add up any more.”

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/84662/the-decline-glenn-beck

[chillspike]

1. Glenn Beck caused it (nt)

[kenny blankenship]

2. prions?

paint thinner?

[marmar]

3. Teh Crazy

[Pharaoh]

4. Because he is obviously nuts! n/t

[tekisui]

5. He had to outdo his crazy each day. It was unsustainable.

[wtmusic]

+1. He jumped the shark.

[upstatecajun]

6. he is a

nut job ....that simple :yoiks:

[warrior1]

7. his lust for money

at any cost

[spin]

8. You can only say that the sky is falling so many times ...

before people start to ignore you.

Having said that, his ratings are still far better than his opposition. CNN and MSNBC would be thrilled to have ratings that high at 5 pm.

ref: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/03/07/cable-news-ratings-for-friday-march-4-2011/84867

It will be interesting to watch if he continues on Fox News. He may have to lighten up a little.

[bluerum]

9. Are you series?! The guy is a flameout nut job. Not much more complicated than that.

[RagAss]

10. You spend a year screaming "Fire" in a theater...and soon enough...nobody listens !

[SaveAmerica]

11. It started upon birth? WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! Mummy!

[jaysunb]

12. Cause ? See : Rick Sanchez

n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

13. I know the answer to this!!

What caused the downfall of Glenn Beck?
ANSWER:The day he opened his mouth, and thats my final answer!

[hollowdweller]

14. Network afraid of getting sued

Sooner or later somebody was going to go off and the net work would get sued.

Second apparently even his audience is watching the news and realizing the difference.

[TBF]

16. Good answer - networks watching the shooting in AZ and wondering

if they could be held liable for something Beck says that causes a nutjob to act. I would bet you're right on the money with that.

[leftstreet]

20. !!

Good point

I remember now the flurry of articles about people like Palin and questioning their level of liability

Interesting

[Modern_Matthew]

15. He's a complete fool, but there's substance to his Google claim. nt

[Wilms]

17. When he dies they should examine his brain. n/t

[Historic NY]

18. teh coo coo.

[upi402]

19. 'Lakka' caused it

Lakka some damn medicine cause it