was Glenn Beck a financial jackpot for FOX news

1. Glenn Beck was a financial jackpot... and a political disasterAiles hired Beck to fill the 5 p.m. "black hole" time slot the month before Barack Obama was elected. The mercurial newsman doubled ratings, Sherman says, succeeding "beyond anyone’s wildest hopes." But tensions surfaced immediately. Beck, already his own media franchise, didn't need to play by Fox's rules. Worse, his over-the-top verbal bomb-throwing "almost engulfed Fox itself," tarnishing both its brand and the GOP's, in Ailes' view. Ailes had to carefully let Beck go without alienating fans — or delivering "a victory for the liberal media."