In a conference call with business analysts this week, Rupert Murdoch said this about Glenn Beck’s advertiser losses:

Murdoch was also asked if last year’s boycott of Glenn Beck had any effect on the news network’s earnings.

The News Corp. CEO laughed and responded with a quick “no.”

“They’re not boycotting watching it because it’s getting incredible numbers,” he said. “We have not lost any business at all; some [advertisers] may have moved to other programs,” but “it has not affected the total revenues or the profits.”

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here, so I urge all interested parties to check out Eric Boehlert’s reality check over at Media Matters.  In it, Eric clearly and convincingly demonstrates that Glenn Beck’s advertiser losses hurt Fox News’ bottom line.  Eric also debunks the myth about Glenn Beck’s ratings; contrary to Murdoch’s assertion, Glenn Beck’s ratings continue to slide.

I do want to add a few additional considerations though…

First, it’s not “last year’s boycott” as the questioner stated.  Glenn Beck continues to lose advertisers to this day. Incontrovertible evidence of this fact here.

Second, in addition to Eric’s financial analysis, there’s one other economic factor to consider. The StopBeck effort operates in both the United States and the UK.  Thanks to the participants in these efforts, the broadcast of Glenn Beck’s show in the UK has run without any commercials for nearly 6 months. Details about Glenn Beck’s total ad loss in the UK can be found here. How can Murdoch honestly claim that losing at least one full hour commercial space has no effect at all?

Finally, recognize that it’s actually the advertisers boycotting Glenn Beck’s show.  Murdoch insults these advertisers when he dismissively laughs about their concerns.  Also, if we assume that Murdoch’s claim was true, then is he inviting Fox News’ advertisers to leave Fox News as a whole? Seems that way.

The point of not advertising on Glenn Beck’s show is to avoid sponsoring his vitriol.  Per Murdoch, these advertisers’ actions are impotent because the money is going to sponsor Glenn Beck anyway.  Thus, if Murdoch is to be believed, Rupert Murdoch is telling Fox News’ advertisers that the only way they can stop subsidizing Glenn Beck’s hate is to drop Fox News as a whole.

Seems like a pretty brazen claim and a big gamble to me. But, okay…

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N.B. After Glenn Beck said that President Obama was a “racist” with a “deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture,” Rupert Murdoch had this to say:

“And um, that was something which perhaps shouldn’t have been said about the President, but if you actually assess what he [Glenn Beck] was talking about, he [Beck] was right.“

My point? I’m not surprised to see Murdoch going to great lengths to defend Glenn Beck.