The streaming video networks founded by a pair of syndicated talkers are merging.
Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze and Mark Levin’s CRTV have combined to form Blaze Media. The new company will be led by co-presidents Tyler Cardon and Gaston Mooney. Cardon previously ran The Blaze, while Mooney ran CRTV. The combined network will feature over 30 original shows with hosts including names such as Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, syndicated hosts Rick & Bubba, SiriusXM host Andrew Wilkow, former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, plus Beck and Levin.
Beck founded TheBlaze TV in 2011 following his exit from Fox News Channel first as GBTV before folding it into his TheBlaze.com commentary site. CRTV launched in 2016 as a spin-off of ConservativeReview.com, which Levin founded and is editor-in-chief. Levin holds no management stake in the newly combined Blaze Media.
TheBlaze and CRTV announced today the merger of the two companies into a newly named company, Blaze Media. The new company will have a monthly multiplatform reach of over 165 million, and will be the largest independent, traditionally conservative multiplatform media company in the United States.
TheBlaze founder Glenn Beck praised the move, noting, “The combination of the exceptional roster of TheBlaze and CRTV talent means Blaze Media 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.”
Mark Levin, founder of LevinTV, also lauded the move, saying, “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.’ Conservatives actually believe in a free press and the rest of the Constitution. This is why I started LevinTV, which grew into the CRTV digital network. In order to further expand and offer the public an alternative to liberal media group-think, I’m very excited about the merger of TheBlaze and CRTV. The timing is perfect.”
Effective immediately, subscribers to CRTV and TheBlaze Premium will have access to the digital streaming content of both CRTV and TheBlaze talent, including over 30 original shows. Blaze Media’s television lineup will include popular conservative programming like “The Glenn Beck Program,” “LevinTV,” “Louder with Crowder,” “The News and Why it Matters,” and “America,” hosted by Eric Bolling. The merger will also allow Blaze Media to expand its lineup of linear programming in 2019 to reach its cable and satellite television audiences.
The company will be led by co-presidents Tyler Cardon, who was formerly president of TheBlaze, and Gaston Mooney, who was formerly the president of CRTV.
Blaze Media provides news, opinion, and entertainment – with varied perspectives across the spectrum of conservative thought – on the day’s most pressing issues and events. The formation of Blaze Media is in response to the marketplace’s clear need for a powerful, independent, media platform that honors the individual liberties protected by the Constitution, celebrates our uniquely American values, welcomes the debate of opposing views, and refuses to capitulate to angry mobs that seek to silence free speech.
Nathan Obral
Wow, the last paragraph of that otherwise normal press release isn’t by any means ridiculously inflammatory and projectionist. /sarc
Outside of Crowder (who has become a living meme thanks to his “change my mind” stunts) Gavin McInnis (who had to publicly disassociate himself from the group he founded) and Wilkow (and maybe Bolling?) the “star power” is sorely lacking here. No wonder the two sites merged.