Was Glenn Beck Lured by Fox or Pushed by CNN?

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Love him or hate him (and there is not much in between) the question on the table is what prompted the very abrupt and almost completely unpublicized move of Glenn Beck from CNN to Fox.

If you look on the internet you can find many blogs starting with the question "What happened to Glenn Beck?".

In certain circles it is said that Fox News pursued and wooed him and won his affiliation.

"He was on CNN, and then Fox News saw that he is great, and offered him a boatload of money. He will return to TV on January 19th at 5 PM. I hope they let Glenn be Glenn, and don’t mess his show up. "

source: Chris-Spangle.com

The numbers and contrasts, strange as they are, seem to bear this out.

"In the third quarter of 2008, Mr. Beck’s CNN program averaged 376,000 viewers at 7 p.m. and another 487,000 viewers at 9 p.m., a record high for both hours. His program is Headline News’s second most popular behind Nancy Grace, who attracted 924,000 viewers at 8 p.m. and 559,000 viewers at 10 p.m. in the quarter."

source: tvdecoder 

However others have reported for some time that Beck is not a fit for the CNN audience.

".... a CNN executive, who asked not to be identified because the negotiation was private, said that a sticking point in the talks with Mr. Beck to renew his contract was a plan by Headline News to drop the repeat of Mr. Beck’s show at 9 p.m.

Instead the channel plans to insert a repeat of Lou Dobbs’s 6 p.m. CNN show in that 9 p.m. slot, the CNN executive said. (Mr. Beck’s contract was with CNN, though he worked at Headline News, which is no longer called CNN Headline News.)

Mr. Beck declined to comment."

source: nytimes.com

The lack of fit has been reported on for some time.

"CNN last year traded away its good name in exchange for debuting Beck's factually challenged and hateful brand of broadcasting, at least CNN execs were getting a ratings boost out of the Faustian bargain. Today, Beck's still making a mockery out of CNN's reputation on a daily basis, as he disparages liberals, gays, Democrats, blacks, immigrants, and Muslims at will. But in return, CNN's now stuck with a Beck program that's trapped in neutral and shows signs of sliding into reverse."

source: mediamatters.com

Not much has been written on either side that can be considered informative. It does appear that the ratings for the Glenn Beck show have improved overtime however and the fact is that the new Glenn Beck show will premier on Fox on January 19th at 5pm and time will tell the rest.