Syndicator, Client Trade Lawsuits Over Dispute Involving Payment For Ads On Glenn Beck Show

Beck

POLITICO's examination of GLENN BECK's endorsement of TED CRUZ and the contemporaneous troubles the site says BECK has been experiencing this year includes a report that a client and his syndicator have traded lawsuits that raise issues regarding BECK's allegedly waning influence on listeners.

PREMIERE NETWORKS sued client SOLUTIONS FROM SCIENCE, INC. in CALIFORNIA Superior Court in LOS ANGELES COUNTY in MARCH for breach of contract, saying that the client had failed to pay $2,896,200 owed for advertising on BECK's radio show.  But SOLUTIONS FROM SCIENCE filed a cross-complaint in JUNE alleging that it tried to cancel its contract when, in DECEMBER 2015, "the tone, content, and message of the GLENN BECK Radio Program started to go through a radical change," moving to become "almost exclusively political" and a campaign for CRUZ, including "highly publicized instances of stating violent intentions against DONALD TRUMP." 

The result, the client alleged, was that BECK "alienated a majority" of its target market audience and "caused an extreme and detrimental decrease in sales" for SOLUTIONS FROM SCIENCE's solar products, including some customers identifying BECK as a co-owner and demanding their money back. But another client told POLITICO that "We haven’t seen any signs of drop-off. If we noticed it, we would reduce our spend. The only thing we see now is the same performance or better, particularly in an environment where his listeners are extremely engaged.”

PREMIERE's RACHEL NELSON provided POLITICO with a statement saying, “The GLENN BECK Program has experienced increased revenue and audience levels over the past several years, and is pacing ahead in 2016.  Many of GLENN’s sponsors are long-term partners that have had significant success advertising with his radio program and plan to continue their affiliation with him well into the future. These sponsors choose to advertise their products and services with GLENN because they believe in the value and effectiveness of his relationship with his very loyal audience.”

BECK told POLITICO that he plans to launch "Project Phoenix, BLAZE 2.0," a comeback plan for his company, adding, "The world currently is punishing anyone who takes a stand. And that’s what’s so disappointing.  I’m a guy who’s used to being called names. But I was shocked at how the right plays exactly the same game as the left. I’ve always known that there were dirtbags on both sides, but the exact same tactics used to try to discredit me from the (GEORGE) SOROS left was used by the (BREITBART Editor and TRUMP campaign manager STEVE) BANNON right,” he said, adding “there is no difference between those two, practically.”

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