It has been three years—and $3 million—since the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin signed on as a paid contributor at Fox News, hoping to cash in on her proven charisma and celebrity status. But Friday’s announcement that Palin and the network were parting ways sparked some questions as to whether her salary was indeed money well-spent.
So how did “Mama Grizzly” do?
According to a study released Monday by the University of Minnesota’s non-partisan organization Smart Politics, Palin appeared on various Fox broadcasts a little more than 150 times and spoke 189,221 words during her three-year tenure as a network analyst. That averages out to a grand total of $15.85 per word.
Not a bad gig.
Palin appeared on Fox an average of once every 7.2 days, with nearly three-quarters of those interviews taking place with either Sean Hannity or Greta Van Susteren. The former governor, who famously botched her interview with Katie Couric back when she was a vice presidential contender, generally avoided the network’s tougher interviewers, Chris Wallace and Bill O’Reilly. She made less than 20 appearances on Fox News Sunday and the O’Reilly Factor combined.
Smart Politics also broke down exactly which words Palin uttered the most as a Fox News contributor, and the results were unsurprising. After her references by name to President Obama, whom she mentioned 786 times, the word Palin uttered the most was “Amen,” which crept into her commentary 111 times.
So does this breakup with Fox mark the end of Sarah Palin’s stardom? Only time will tell. But she reportedly has a new book on fitness in the works, so her fans at least have that to look forward to.
Check out our favorite Palin-on-Fox moments in the video above!
Emma Margolin
Emma Margolin is a reporter at MSNBC.com.