It seems it is no longer in corporate interest to associate itself with inflammatory symbols or individuals, especially when an individual attacks the fastest growing demographic group in the United States. The Donald has been fired by NBC, largely over the comments he made at his presidential launching party at Trump Tower. Not surprisingly, Univision will no longer associate itself with him either.
Just last week, Fox had enough of Sarah Palin, releasing her from a contract. In this case, it appears to be more a lack of relevance than any inflammatory thing she said, since Fox tends to give its faux news celebrities a very long leash.
Rush Limbaugh also finds his viewing audience shrinking, as more and more radio stations are dumping his program. Of course, you can still find him all over the Internet, mostly on Media Matters, which is singularly obsessed with the old windbag.
In his own odd way, Donald is the face of his corporation, unlike others which try to remain as benign as possible. By his own admission, he is worth close to $10 billion. No telling how much his far flung real estate and entertainment holdings is worth. It is doubtful that these actions by NBC and Univision amount to anything more than a slap on the wrist, especially since Fox or some cable network will no doubt pick up his beauty pageants. NBC retained the rights to The Apprentice, although he will no longer serve as the host.
Rush signed an enormous contract with Clear Channel for reportedly $400 million back in 2008, so one assumes he will survive these cancellations as well. But, his name and his message no longer carry much weight, other than to serve as fodder for liberal media watchdogs that appear to jump at every insane comment he makes. Even Jon Stewart and John Oliver have pretty much given up on Limbaugh.
Sarah is a bit more battered, as she is left with only her on-going reality show on the Internet, which doesn't seem to be attracting many viewers, much less corporate sponsors. She probably has to self-publish her books as well, as she no longer has much value in print. Easy to imagine her and her husband Todd running a truck stop on the Alaska Highway in the not so distant future.
Funny enough, Ann Coulter seems to have enjoyed a bit of a resurgence with her new book, Adios, America. I won't bother with a link. She was even invited on Bill Maher's panel to discuss immigration. I'm surprised HBO would choose to associate itself with her, but the cable television companies relish these useless "debates." I had given her up for dead.
Television recycles these political gadflies, letting the controversies cool down before bringing them back on air, as if there is no one else to fill their shoes. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the Donald on Celebrity Apprentice, itself a recycling bin for forgotten celebrities that long ago needed to be emptied.
Comments
Post a Comment