"Half of the headlines say he's been canceled," Ailes said. "The other half say he quit. We're pretty happy with both of them."
Beck said he noted on his show Tuesday "how many times can I tell the (George) Soros story," referring to the liberal donor Beck has made a target of attacks.
"We felt Glenn brought additional information, a unique perspective, a certain amount of passion and insight to the channel and he did," Ailes said. "But that story of what's going on and why America is in trouble today, I think he told that story as well as could be told. Whether you can just keep telling that story or not ... we're not so sure."
...More than 400 Fox advertisers told the company they did not want their commercials on Beck's show. Beck's advertisers were dominated by financial services firms, many touting gold as an investment...
"Fox News Channel clearly understands that Beck's increasingly erratic behavior is a liability to their ratings and their bottom line, and we are glad to see them take this action," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorofChange.org, which organized the advertiser boycott.
Beck was a lightning rod for other critics, as well. The Jewish Funds for Justice organized a petition drive last fall to get Beck fired for what it called his misuse of Nazis and the Holocaust phrases against political opponents...
Increasingly, the show began to be dominated by Beck standing in front of a chalk board giving his theories about the world's troubles.