It’s amazing they lasted as long as they have. The credit card auto renewals must be ending. (that is my guess)
That, and he can’t get distribution through major cable providers to entice more subscribers. And when your revenue model is based on subscription fees, survival becomes problematic.
The warning signs have been there for a while. Not only did Beck turn his back on his base, he (apparently) paid little attention to his company’s financial condition—just kept burning through money like a drunken sailor (with apologies to all swabbies who ever had one too many).
Like some entrepreneurs, Beck surrounded himself with yes men and women. His first CEO had no qualifications, except he was a long time Beck crony who couldn’t tell Beck “no.” When he departed, Beck tried to push a lot of the blame on him. But the real fault lies with Glenn; he kept hiring talent and tried to expand programming when the revenue model simply couldn’t support it.
And the hand-writing was clearly on the wall when Beck jumped on the “conservative outreach field trip” to Silicon Valley. It doesn’t take an MBA to realize Beck was trying to unload his enterprise on a tech firm, or look for more investors. He came hope empty-handed, and TheBlaze has been circling the drain ever since.
I predict the enterprise (or what’s left of it) will go bankrupt within 18 months—tops—and then someone may buy what’s left at a fire-sale price. Potentially, One America News Network might be interested; ditto for Sinclair, which could absorb elements of TheBlaze into its Circa news website.
But don’t worry: Glenn will be just fine. He still has his radio show, which is syndicated by Premier, the same outfit that signs his seven-figure radio paycheck. Pat, Stu, Jeffy and a few more of the inner circle are also paid by Premier, so they will also have jobs after TheBlaze is no more.
Well, Being CRAZY as a “Outhouse Rat” has been proven to be bad for business!