TheBlaze And CRTV Merge To Create Blaze Media, Uniting Glenn Beck With Fox News Host Mark Levin
Conservative media companies TheBlaze and CRTV are merging to create a new right-leaning entity called Blaze Media, which says it will reach 165 million people across platforms.
Glenn Beck founded TheBlaze in 2011 after high-profile runs on Fox News and CNN. The company’s main network has secured distribution on traditional pay-TV systems and also gotten streaming subscribers via an OTT app. As headwinds on the digital advertising front hit a range of outlets in recent years, TheBlaze laid off several dozen workers in 2016.
Blaze Media did not break out pay-TV numbers but said it will have carriage on Dish Network, Verizon and other systems, the company said.
CRTV launched in 2014 and has featured hosts including Mark Levin, who is also on Fox News. The roster of personalities in the combined company will include Steven Crowder, Eric Bolling, Michelle Malkin and Phil Robertson.
Blaze Media described itself as a “digital-first, multiplatform media company built on the foundation of bold discourse, big ideas, and free expression.” The deal comes just weeks after Fox News launched its Fox Nation subscription streaming service and in a climate of growth for conservative outlets both established and grassroots.
The company will be led by Tyler Cardon and Gaston Mooney, who will serve as Blaze Media co-presidents.
“Tens of millions of Americans have had it with the biased, ideologically-driven mainstream media outlets that sanctimoniously advance their own agendas under the guise of ‘news’ and ‘journalism,’” Levin said.
Beck said the new company “will now be as broad and ideologically diverse as the audiences we serve. Conservatives, libertarians, constitutionalists, and more have a home at Blaze Media. Our hosts will have differences, but we share a common belief in free expression, honest discourse and a society founded in the principles of the Bill of Rights. I’m beyond thrilled about this merger.”
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