Report: Ex-Glenn Beck Execs To Start New Digital Venture

Chris Balfe

Glenn Beck's top two lieutenants have left Beck's Internet and television channel, TheBlaze, and are starting a new venture together, according to CNN Money.

The departing executives are Chris Balfe, who was Beck's CEO, and Joel Cheatwood, who was president and chief content officer.

According to people familiar with their plans, the two men are building a digital media startup that will reflect some of the lessons learned while at TheBlaze. The startup is currently in stealth mode while the two men talk with potential partners.

Joel Cheatwood

TheBlaze was a big risk when Beck, Balfe and Cheatwood launched it in 2011, months after Beck and Cheatwood left Fox News. It's now credited with being one of the first direct-to-subscriber streaming video businesses, a category that other media companies and A-list celebrities are now pursuing with vigor.

Balfe departed Mercury Radio Arts, the parent firm of TheBlaze, in December. He had been Beck's right-hand man for more than a decade -- before, during and after the host's tumultuous tenure at Fox -- so his exit raised some eyebrows at the time.

Cheatwood left more recently -- sometime last month -- and declined to comment on Thursday, but indicated that the departures were amicable. In fact, he referred questions to a spokesman for Beck, who relayed Beck's praise for both executives.

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