Glenn Beck Befuddles With 'Go the Way of Oprah' Warning for Jon Stewart

By Rob Shuter Posted Sep 28th 2010 10:20AM

Glenn Beck isn't mincing his words towards Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, warning them that if they continue with their planned rallies in Washington, D.C., they will "go the way of Oprah."

"I don't know how this shakes out, and I don't claim to be the one who is left standing in the end. Here's what I do claim. I believe that those who play these games at this point, who are not honest, who are in bed with the special interests, who are in bed with what America knows is wrong, they will go the way of Oprah Winfrey," Beck said on his radio show this week.

Beck may be referring to the Queen of Talk's ratings dip since she endorsed Barack Obama for president back in 2008, the first time Oprah has ever publicly endorsed any politician. He may have simply seen her Tweet from last week saying she though "Jon Stewart's on to something." However, media smarties are scratching their heads wondering what on earth Glenn is talking about.

"Warning people they may 'go the way of Oprah' is a bit like warning people all their dreams might someday come true," Glynnis MacNicol, senior editor at Mediaite, wrote on Monday.

She adds: "Is Beck warning Stewart and Colbert that if they keep on doing what they're doing they too might find themselves a quarter century-long cultural phenomenon with a best-selling magazine, numerous books and their own network?"

It is true that Judge Judy is beating Oprah in the ratings right now, but even politicos like Sarah Palin and Obama know when you want to sell something, you visit the great O.

"Oprah is the biggest TV star on the planet," one TV exec tells me. "She has millions or viewers and is about to launch her own network. Everyone on TV would kill to end up like Oprah."

So what's got Glenn's goat? Clearly he's feeling touchy because Stewart and Colbert's Oct. 30 "Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive" is both a parody of the FOX megastar's recent DC event, the "Rally to Restore Honor," and is shaping up to rival it in popularity. On the rally's Facebook page, over 167,000 people are already saying they're making the trip, with an untold (and more difficult to predict) number of others expected to attend. Yes, those number should be taken with a grain of salt, but they are still impressive. A National Parks Service official estimated between 300,000 and 325,000 turned out for Beck's gathering on Aug. 28.

It would seem odd indeed if Beck was warning Stewart and Colbert about losing viewers. While Beck's own ratings have leveled out since his rally, earlier this year, the conservative commentator was weathering his worst ratings since joining FOX. By mid-May, he was down 50 percent from his peak audience, and though he has since somewhat recovered, his viewership presently averages approximately a million fewer viewers than his 3.4 million viewer high.

So, what do you think Glenn's "go the way of Oprah" comment meant?

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Tags: glenn beck, jon stewart, oprah winfrey

Comments

(93)

Tuesday 28 September

By themeeker

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Glen Beck is Joseph McCarthy reincarnated. I hope his show tanks soon and he ends up on skid row where all terrorists belong.

By loganoneil

...and while he's at it, why doesn't he take Rush limbaugh and Ann Coulter along with him!

By chuck

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Well said!

Wednesday 29 September

By BTDT

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My goodness this man's an axx.

By Tony Carlos

Beck is the last person to be warning anyone about who they get in bed with. He preaches with sweeping "end of the world" generalities, then sells gold and survival food and planting seeds. Talk about self serving! And the mindless dittoheads who eat this stuff us never even realize that Beck himself doesn't believe in what he's preaching. He and his type are laughing all the way to the bank.

By GlennBeck

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I need a tissue...

By ducky

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"Is Beck warning Stewart and Colbert that if they keep on doing what they're doing they too might find themselves a quarter century-long cultural phenomenon with a best-selling magazine, numerous books and their own network?" Yeah, that's what he's saying... not. This author is, as most do in the liberal media, clearly ignoring Beck's point that as soon as Oprah endorsed Obama her ratings began to fall exponentially and she's now ending her TV show. Sure, she's mega rich but Obama wants a big piece of that. It will be interesting to see if Steward and Colbert lose their ratings for publicly supporting Obama. Members of his administration are going to attend the rally. Now that's keeping the government where it belongs, isn't it?

By Linda S

Sorry, sunshine, but Stewart and Colbert speak the truth which is what ruffles the feathers and gets the panties in a wad on the conservative side of things. You people have a clear disdain for FACTS, and cling to your ignorance like its some badge of honor.

By huh

Her show is ending as the highest rated talk show in syndication, after a quarter century of being the highest rated talk show in syndication. Glenn Beck's not even the highest rated talk show in cable. He gets destroyed by Bill O'reilly.

By christheboy

Hey Ducky-dum-dum. . .if you REALLY knew your "stuff," you'd know that Oprah is leaving to start her new show on her own expanded network (channel). . .so the "show" isn't really ending. . .You're all caught up in Beck's and Fox's mezmorizing hate messages. . .you sound like the German of the 30's defending your hatefilled leader!

Monday 18 October

By Christy

I am pretty sure Oprah ending her talk show had nothing to do with declined ratings from endorsing Obama. It isn't like it was a close presidential race anyway. It was a blowout. The people spoke. Get over it already.

By yokoach

Beck will do anything he can to get ratings...even flaunt his own ignorance...but then, most of those he appeals to are knee jerk reactionaries which by definition are inherently ignorant.

By sourcrush

Couldn't have said it better myself!

By Moira Lane

I think he meant "Go the way of Oprah; off the air!" Just a thought? Mo

By Debi

Hi Moira, actually, she's hardly going off the air -- she's moving to another show on her own network. It's hard to imaging that someone with her own highly-rated network is about to hit the skids -- which is what it sounds like Mr. Beck is trying to infer.

By barry

Glenn Beck is a moron. Oprah's season premier was watched by 9 million households in just the U.S. alone. Beck would be lucky to get even a quarter of that. He should be so lucky as to go the way of the richest broadcaster in history.

By catdance

Oprah is not going off the air because of ratings. She is ending her show so that she can start a new network of her own. Beck is an idiot.

By Len Robertson

And, Glen Beck may go the way of Bernie Madoff. In fact, they might end up cell mates for the next 15 to 25 years. it all depends on the gold Beck pimps to the public.

Another left wing hater heard from. LOL You're probably a fan of Colbert, who made a fool of himself AND Congress last week. But then, people like you believe John Stewart is the country's most trusted news anchor. God bless liberals. Without them I'd have so much less entertainment.

By sjm30741

Colbert may have stayed in character during the hearings, but at the end when asked why he appeared, he made is point: Migrant workers are suffering and have no rights. And that's the truth of the matter that we all wish to ignore. Enjoy your salad today and remember someone "illegal" probably picked it for you.

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