As Glenn Beck transitions from Fox (June 30 will be the last night of the Beck show), he's been planning to launch his own online media empire. Last night, The Times' Brian Stelter learned a little bit more about the outsized personality's new home: it will take a cue from subscription-based enterprises like HBO and Netflix (and, of course, The New York Times) and charge devotees $5 to $10 dollars a month to feast on his latest online musings.

GBTV will corral fans to a web destination that offers a variety of programming on-demand but that shouldn't be classified as a "news channel." Starting on September 12, Beck will debut a two-hour episode of the show at 5 pm--a time slot that will directly (although not technically since it's online) compete with his replacement on Fox News. Beck's subscription business model, as TVNewser earlier reported, would work similar to his "Insider Extreme" service. Viewers who just want to watch the Glenn Beck show will be able to do so for $4.95, those who want all of the channel's offerings will be charged $9.95 a month.

As with his new book imprint, Huffington Post-style news website, and Groupon-style coupon service, the calculated risk of launching a subscription-based web news channel plays to Beck's desire to build an Oprah-like media empire from which to preside over. And, unlike at News Corp., online he'll be able to bend the rules whenever he wants: "It's my network, so if I want the show to run 2 hours and 15 minutes one night, it will," he decreed to the Times.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ehayden at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Erik Hayden