Glenn Beck to End Daily Fox News Program

April 7th, 2011

New York Times

By: Brian Stelter

Glenn Beck will end his daily Fox News Channel program later this year.

His departure was jointly announced in a statement on Wednesday by Fox and Mr. Beck’s company, Mercury Radio Arts.

Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, which have clashed over the making of the program, will “work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News’ digital properties,” the companies said in the statement.

As expected, a senior Fox News executive, Joel Cheatwood, will join Mr. Beck at Mercury Radio Arts starting later this month.

The joint statement did not specify an end date for Mr. Beck’s show, called “Glenn Beck,” which has been telecast at 5 p.m. on Fox News since early 2009. Asked if Fox News had a rough end date for the program, a spokeswoman referred back to the statement. Mr. Beck’s contract with Fox ends in December.

Mr. Beck is a hugely popular figure on Fox News, averaging 2.2 million viewers each weekday, though his ratings have fallen somewhat in the last year. He is beloved by his fans for speaking out against what he sees as threats from progressives, socialists and people he deems “radicals.” His opponents — and there are many — condemn him for his conspiratorial views and apocalyptic predictions.

Notably, his program is a rare daily broadcast platform for a strain of libertarian politics that is also evident in the Tea Party, a movement he embraced and encouraged.

Though the discord rarely spilled onto the television broadcasts, Mr. Beck and his managers repeatedly clashed with Fox, and they had been contemplating an exit from Fox for some time. Two of the post-Fox options Mr. Beck has considered, according to people who have spoken about it with him, are a partial or wholesale takeover of a cable channel, or an expansion of his subscription video service on the Web. His company has been staffing up — making Web shows, some of which have little or nothing to do with Mr. Beck, and charging a monthly subscription for access to the shows.

A spokesman for Mr. Beck declined to say whether the agreement announced Wednesday included a non-compete agreement that would preclude Mr. Beck from hosting a television show elsewhere for a period of time.

Mr. Beck also hosts a syndicated radio show on weekday mornings. He was estimated to earn about $32 million in total revenues in 2009, the first year that he worked at Fox.

In the statement on Wednesday, Mr. Beck said he would be starting a “new phase” of a partnership with Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News. “I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and Fox News,” he said.

Mr. Ailes said in the statement, “Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anybody’s standards. I look forward to continuing to work with him.”

Almost immediately after Mr. Beck’s announcement, the progressive group Media Matters for America, which combats Fox on a daily basis, said it was “no surprise” that he was leaving, given that many advertisers had shunned Mr. Beck’s show ever since he labeled President Obama a racist in the summer of 2009. (Fox has said in the past that the advertisers simply moved over to other programs on the channel.)

Color of Change, the group that spearheaded an advertiser boycott of Mr. Beck, asserted that the program lost “over 300 advertisers.” James Rucker, the executive director of the group, said in a statement, “Fox News Channel clearly understands that Beck’s increasingly erratic behavior is a liability to their ratings and their bottom line, and we are glad to see them take this action.”

Click here for the full report from the New York Times

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7th Circuit Nixes 30-Day Jail Term for Infomercial Pitchman Whose Fans Flooded Judge’s E-Mail Inbox

May 20, 2010

ABAJournal

by Martha Neil

A 30-day jail term for criminal contempt imposed on an infomercial pitchman after his followers flooded a federal judge’s BlackBerry and courthouse computer inbox with e-mail has been nixed by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Court of Appeals.

Because U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman didn’t actually see the conduct at issue, which occurred outside the courtroom, and there was no need for an immediate, emergency sanction to keep his courtroom functioning, his summary finding that Kevin Trudeau was in direct criminal contempt was inappropriate, according to the court’s opinion today.

And, because the summary disposition of the case, without an evidentiary hearing, hasn’t established a sufficient record to determine on appeal whether a criminal contempt finding was appropriate under standard procedures, the appeals court vacated not only Trudeau’s 30-day sentence but the contempt finding itself.

However, Trudeau could still be found in contempt on remand, after evidence is presented, the appeals court said. His followers sent some 300 e-mails to the judge within 36 hours, some with threatening overtones.

As the court recounts in the opinion, Trudeau was already in federal court in Chicago for a civil contempt proceeding when the e-mail issue intervened. Initially fined $40 million for violating a consent order requiring him not to misrepresent the contents of his books on television, he was awaiting a new penalty after the 7th Circuit overturned the $40 million fine.

Meanwhile, he wound up being held in criminal contempt after urging his fans to e-mail Gettleman. The resulting deluge reportedly crashed both the judge’s BlackBerry and his court computer. (Gettleman thought he had not made his e-mail address public, but Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches as an adjunct, had included it on his faculty Web listing, the opinion notes.)

Click here to read the full report

Court Spares Infomercial Pitchman From Jail

May 20, 2010

Google.com

An appeals court in Chicago has ruled that an infomercial pitchman won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s e-mail inbox.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Kevin Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction on Thursday. It says a judge cannot find a defendant in contempt on the spot and without a hearing unless the offending action occurred in the presence of the judge.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters. Gettleman argued that a contempt ruling was appropriate because his computer was part of his court.

The judge has overseen a long-running legal battle between Trudeau and the Federal Trade Commission.

Click here for the full report

Info Pitchman Trudeau Avoids Jail

May 20, 2010

SouthtownStar.com

An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.

The appeals court Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.

The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.

Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.

Click here to read the full report

Infomercial Pitchman Avoids Jail

May 20, 2010

CBS2Chicago.com

An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.

The appeals court on Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.

The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.

Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.

Click here to read the full report

No Jail, Contempt For TV pitchman Trudeau

May 20, 2010

TheUSDaily.com

A federal appeals court in Chicago threw out a 30-day jail sentence and contempt citation for television pitchman Kevin Trudeau.

Thursday’s ruling by a unanimous panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a February ruling by a federal district judge, who had scolded Trudeau for inciting fans to flood the judge’s e-mail with testimonials.

Trudeau has long battled federal regulators over his marketing of “cures” for such things as disease, memory loss, obesity and financial distress.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 10-1383.

Click here to read the full report

No Jail, Contempt For TV Pitchman Trudeau

May 20, 2010

Reuters.com

by Jon Stempel

Thursday’s ruling by a unanimous panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a February ruling by a federal district judge, who had scolded Trudeau for inciting fans to flood the judge’s e-mail with testimonials.

Trudeau has long battled federal regulators over his marketing of “cures” for such things as disease, memory loss, obesity and financial distress.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 10-1383.

Click here to read the full report