It’s official. Glenn Beck is bringing his TV program to Fox News Channel in the Spring of 2009. The program currently airs at 7pmET and 9pmET on Headline News and will occupy the 5pmET slot on FNC. Beck will continue his daily radio show The Glenn Beck Program as well. Said FNC founder and chairman Roger Ailes, “As we embark on a new political landscape, Glenn’s thought provoking commentary will complement an already stellar line-up of stars at FOX News.”
Beck added, “I am thrilled and profoundly humbled to have the chance to bring my program to FOX News. Expanding my audience is exciting, but I’m really looking forward to joining Mr. Ailes and his world-class team.”
The 5pmET time slot has seen a variety of programs this year — The Big Story with John Gibson and Heather Nauert; Just In with Laura Ingraham and America’s Election HQ with a rotating cast of anchors.
In addition to his TV and radio deals, Beck is also the author of two best-selling books.
A Headline News spokesperson released this statement tonight: “Glenn has been a terrific employee and colleague to many of us at CNN. We wish him well.”
The Fox News press release is after the jump…
NEW YORK, Oct 16, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Glenn Beck has signed a multi-year agreement to join FOX News, announced Roger Ailes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FOX News. Beginning next spring, Beck will host FOX News Channel’s (FNC) 5 PM/ET weekday program as well as a weekend show on the network.
Currently, Beck serves as the host of Glenn Beck, a talk show on CNN’s Headline News which has grown more than 200% in viewership in both the 7pm and 9pm timeslots since its 2006 debut. He also hosts a daily radio show The Glenn Beck Program which is syndicated via Premiere Radio Networks to more than 300 stations nationwide as well as XM Satellite Radio, and ranks as the third most listened to radio talk show in America among adults 25-54.
In making the announcement, Ailes said, “As we embark on a new political landscape, Glenn’s thought provoking commentary will complement an already stellar line-up of stars at FOX News.”
Prior to his television career, Beck served as a talk radio show host at WFLA-AM in Tampa, FL where he took his program to number one within his first year there. He began his radio career in Corpus Christi, Texas as the youngest Top 40 morning show disc jockey in America at 18 years of age. Beck later moved on to become a top 40 disc jockey in major markets around the country, including Houston, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Phoenix and New Haven, CT.
Beck added, “I am thrilled and profoundly humbled to have the chance to bring my program to FOX News. Expanding my audience is exciting, but I’m really looking forward to joining Mr. Ailes and his world-class team.”
A recipient of the 2008 Marconi Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters, Beck is also the author of the New York Times bestseller An Inconvenient Book – Real Solutions to the World’s Biggest Problems (2007) as well as The Real America – Messages from the Heart and Heartland (2005).