Beck Says, "Thanks Van"

Van Jones and Color of Change are doing their darnedest to draw advertisers away from Glenn Beck’s Fox News Channel show. Both Beck and Fox must be thrilled. It’s true that Jones and Co. can lay claim to over 40 companies who have steered their monies elsewhere. What must grate on the Color of Change gang is that their efforts, while successful on the surface, are actually an abysmal failure.

Most television boycotts are undertaken to starve a show of advertising revenues and therefore make it unprofitable for the broadcaster. But as the saying goes, “Any publicity is good publicity,” and lots of new viewers are changing the channel to Fox during Beck ’s time slot. Glenn is reveling in his climbing ratings.

On Wednesday and Thursday this week Beck out-drew all cable news/commentary hosts other than Bill O’Reilly and even surpassed O’Reilly in the coveted 25-54 age demographic.

Wednesday, August 26 total viewers (25-54) (35-64)

Glenn Beck – 3,040,000 viewers (888,000) (1,385,000)

Bill O’Reilly – 3,303,000 viewers (876,000) (1,468,000)

Keith Olbermann– 1,091,000 viewers (320,000) (504,000)

Sean Hannity –2,592,000 viewers (752,000) (1,158,000)

Larry King — 1,182,000 viewers (299,000) (473,000)

Chris Matthews—1,123,000 viewers (381,000) (583,000)

Thursday, August 27 total viewers (25-54) (35-64)

Glenn Beck – 2,544,000 viewers (762,000) (1,275,000)

Bill O’Reilly – 2,896,000 viewers (757,000) (1,281,000)

Keith Olbermann – 1,199,000 viewers (276,000) (614,000)

Sean Hannity – 2,402,000 viewers (691,000) (1,113,000)

Larry King — 1,464,000 viewers (378,000) (623,000)

Chris Matthews — 783,000 viewers (271,000) (444,000)

Figures are from TV by the Numbers

And remember, Beck broadcasts at 5:00 PM — far from the primetime slots enjoyed by the others. So while Jones and Color of Change may be claiming a victory today, all they’re really doing is providing free publicity for Beck and feeding him a new, young audience he otherwise may not have had.

The companies who pulled the plug on Beck? They’re charged with making money for their shareholders. Beck has viewers they want to reach. They’ll be back.