Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts Announce New Agreement; Beck to 'Transition Off' Daily TV Program

Editor's note:  After a great deal of speculation about Glenn Beck's future on television, here is the freshly-inked news release.  There will be a couple of key headlines out of this...yes, there is a new agreement with Fox News but this is the first confirmation that Beck will "transition off of his daily TV program" later this year.

The program has obviously been a great success for Beck and for Fox News, and the relationship between the organizations seems as strong as ever.

This news release does leave some key questions unanswered for now, primarily, does Glenn have plans for a daily TV or video program down the road?  The Blaze will be tracking reaction and speculation about this news release throughout the day.  Check back for updates.

FOX NEWS AND MERCURY RADIO ARTS ANNOUNCE NEW AGREEMENT

(New York, NY)  Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, are proud to announce that they 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. Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.

Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News said, “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."

Glenn Beck said: “I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and Fox News. I cannot repay Roger for the lessons I’ve learned and will continue to learn from him and I look forward to starting this new phase of our partnership."

Joel Cheatwood, SVP/Development at Fox News, will be joining Mercury Radio Arts effective April 24, 2011. Part of his role as EVP will be to manage the partnership and serve as a liaison with the Fox News Channel.

Roger Ailes said:  “Joel is a good friend and one of the most talented and creative executives in the business. Over the past four years I have consistently valued his input and advice and that will not stop as we work with him in his new role."

"Glenn Beck" is consistently the third highest rated program on cable news. For the 27 months that “Glenn Beck” has aired on Fox News, the program has averaged more than 2.2 million total viewers and 563,000 viewers 25-54 years old, numbers normally associated with shows airing in primetime, not at 5pm. “Glenn Beck" has dominated all of its cable news competitors since launch.

About Fox News

FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour general news service covering breaking news as well as political, business and entertainment news.  For more than 100 consecutive months, FNC has been the most-watched cable news channel in the country.  Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million homes.

About Mercury Radio Arts

Mercury Radio Arts is Glenn Beck’s fully integrated multi-media production company. Mercury produces or co-produces all Glenn Beck related properties including The Glenn Beck Program, America’s third highest-rated radio show, Beck’s New York Times bestselling books, his live stage-show business, destination website GlennBeck.com, and news and information service TheBlaze.com.  Founded in 2002, Mercury has a full time staff of 50 employees and is based in New York, NY.