For a couple of months now, Glenn Beck has starred on his new cable news show on Fox News. Since his start, he is the 3rd most watched cable news show. Followed by O'Reilly (#1), and Hannity (#2). Even if you combine the amount of viewers of all of the other cable news networks, they still don't beat him. The most surprising fact is that his show is at 5pm eastern time, 2pm pacific time. This is not even primetime yet, but apparently he is gets prime time ratings. If anyone of you have time weekdays around 5pm eastern, 4pm central, 3pm mountain, 2pm pacific, 1pm Alaska, or 12pm Hawaii, please tune to Fox News channel. He also gives a summary of his weeks shows on Saturday 9pm est, and Sunday 3pm est. Take a moment to find out why so many people are watch listening to this man. I have been listening to talk radio for a good while now. Interesting note, when I was in High School I would fall to sleep listen to Art Bell and George Noory on Coast to Coast AM. Since then I have tuned into famous talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Most moderate people would fine these two men a little to much for them. I fine myself a definite Conservative and from a lot a people that know me might even consider me very Conservative. Even though I still really enjoy listening to Rush and Sean, there is one talk show host I can't get enough of. His name, Glenn Beck. For those who may not know this man I will give a little back round.
Glenn started in radio when he was only 13 years old by winning a local radio contest to be a DJ for an hour. Soon after that auspicious day, Glenn had three jobs – one at a Christian station, a Rock station, and a Country station – all of which his parents had to schlep him to in their home state of Washington. He was fired from all three jobs – on the same day when he was 14 years old! After high school graduation, Glenn pursued his career as a Top 40 DJ at stations all over the country. Eventually, he landed an opportunity in Corpus Christi, Texas, as the youngest morning guy in the U.S. at 18 years old. His career was soaring and took him to Top 40 morning shows in Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix, Washington, and New Haven, Conn. He rode the wave of professional success into the 1990s when things began to change. Today, Glenn points out, “When you have that kind of success that early in life, it’s easy for you to turn into a monster. And I did! I was not a good guy.”
At the age of 30, Glenn lost his passion for radio – and everything else – as alcoholism and drug addiction took him over. Struggling to find some answers to his problem, Glenn pursued higher education. Though he was accepted by Yale as a Theology major, he lasted only one semester, faced with a divorce from his first wife and separation from his two daughters – the oldest with Cerebral Palsy. He was emotionally and financially decimated and relegated to one of the smallest radio markets. The shooting radio star had fallen to earth.
Finally, he turned to a program of recovery. Coming to terms with his past and staying sober shifted his life direction. He found a new love (his second wife, Tania), religion (he was baptized Mormon in 2000), and a new vision of his career – he would pursue talk radio.
Soon after his baptism, Glenn received a call from an agent who was interested in representing him. Days later, he had an offer to host his own talk radio show on WFLA-AM in Tampa, Florida, forcing him to move away from his daughters in New Haven. He and Tania decided to live in Tampa for two years and then, whether Glenn succeeded or failed, they would move closer to his girls.
He inherited the 18th placed position at WFLA-AM and took it to the #1 position in his first year, giving the station its highest ratings ever. Within 18 months, Premiere Radio Networks, the leading radio syndication company in the country, offered Glenn the opportunity to go national. In January 2002, The Glenn Beck Program launched on 47 stations.
He also kept his promise to his daughters and moved the national show to Philadelphia. The Glenn Beck Program, which airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon ET, is now ranked as the 3rd most listened to talk show in America among Adults 25-54. (glennbeck.com)
If you want to learn a little more about his conversion story, you can check out my You Tube Page, I have a few videos showing his conversion story. He also has a DVD out called An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck. Like I said before, right now Glenn Beck is on the Fox News Channel showing a new perspective on today's issues. Instead of a more common Conservative or Liberal side of the news found on most news channels, he gives a Libertarian view. Even though I would not consider Glenn like Ron Paul by any means, in fact for a good while he has considered himself a conservative, but a libertarian by heart.
The main issue I wanted to share with all of you is the main message Glenn has been addressing in parts through-out his tv and radio show. This is where I have felt that the well majority of Americans can join in. With all of the chaotic things happening in our country right now, especially in Washington D.C., many of us are started to realize that we have changed a lot from the original spirit of our founding fathers brought to us and defined what it meant to be an American. Here are the words of Glenn.
Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it? Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore? Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone? If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all. We surround them. (glennbeck.com)
Glenn gives 9 Principles and 12 Values that show True American Spirit and gives us a strong foundation that any one who believes in this country, should believe in these Principles and Values. Here they are.
The Nine Principles:
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
The Twelve Values
- Honesty
- Reverence
- Hope
- Thrift
- Humility
- Charity
- Sincerity
- Moderation
- Hard Work
- Courage
- Personal Responsibility
- Friendship
1 comment:
Nice post on Glen Beck. I agree, he is fun and interesting to listen to. You do a great job on your posts, keep them up! Love you!
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