namely, Howie Carr (much better). Howie sued Imus (settled out of court) when Howie's wife was slanded on the I-man's show. That paid for a Florida condo
(fake ad by raccoonradio---actually the details are still being worked out on the actual date
Posted on 07/23/2007 10:22:04 AM PDT by stm
Radio talker Don Imus, exiled from the airwaves in April after making remarks many saw as racist, will return to the microphone as early as September, industry analysts and observers tell NewsMax — but not all agree that the return will be triumphal.
The industry has been rife with rumors since Imus sidekick Bo Dietl's announcement on an Albany radio show, and picked up by the New York Post, that an Imus comeback was in the works for this September.
But experts explain to NewsMax that events are moving so quickly that the "I-Man" will be back in his broadcast chair by late summer or early fall.
"The I's are being dotted and the T's being crossed," media analyst Brian Maloney tells NewsMax. "When rumors went out, and the station not only didn't deny it but played along, that's key right there."
Radio & Records senior editor Mike Boyle, speaking to NewsMax, echoes that certitude. "The sun, the moon, and the stars seem to be aligning with all of this information — whether rumor or fact," he says.
And Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine — the industry bible — is surprised Imus wasn't rehired sooner. "I always thought he'd be back, even before they fired him."
Even the Rev. Al Sharpton, arguably Imus' most vocal critic in April, has blessed the comeback.
In comments to The Associated Press and Radaronline.com, Sharpton says: "My position is that we never called for him to be permanently barred from being on the air. We wanted him to pay for being a repeat abuser, and he paid. We never said we didn't want him to make a living."
Imus spokesman and attorney Martin Garbus, has refused comment.
The questions now are, Where will Imus land? and, What kind of radio landscape will he find once he gets there?
Boyle and Maloney are convinced he'll be back at his old New York City flagship, WFAN-AM, owned by Viacom and CBS. The reason, says Radio & Records' Boyle: "Money."
"You have to look at how much money that radio station billed. They are definitely one of the top 10, if not top five, billing stations in the country. A large portion of that came from Imus."
Analyst Maloney sees another motivation for CBS to return Imus to the fold.
"I think the reason he's returning so easily is they fear an expensive legal battle over the terms of his contact, which were highly favorable to him and they know it," he explains to NewsMax. "They could have been liable for up to $40 million in a payout were they to lose in court. So the alternative is to put him back on the air. Pay him the regular salary. What's the cheaper option?"
Talkers' Harrison isn't quite so sure of what lies in Imus' future.
"I've heard inside reports both confirming and denying he'll return to WFAN," he tells NewsMax. "Imus has all of radio to choose from. I'm sure there are many, many companies that would love to have his services."
And Newsday.com's Neil Best reports on that Web site that CBS CEO Les Moonves in June discounted the possibility of a CBS reprieve. Media journalist Ken Auletta asked Moonves whether Imus would return to CBS Radio. Moonves' curt response: "No."
Some question how successful Imus will be upon his return. The New York Post, at the time Imus was fired, reported that his audience had slipped 50 percent over the last 10 years, and had slid a full 25 percent in just the prior six months.
"He will return in a greatly diminished capacity," Maloney tells NewsMax. "If he's syndicated at all, it will be only a handful of stations. On [WFAN] itself, he will not be in the timeslot he has had. There is no way he's going to recapture what has been lost.
"All I see with certainty is a local New York City radio show," Maloney continues. "Keep in mind Imus was not a big syndication star. He was not on that many stations before. The very few big ones he was on were mainly in the Northeast and a few in the Southeast. Nothing in the West. The only other big station he was on is in Boston and that station has already announced a replacement. So where does he go?"
But Talkers' Harrison disagrees.
"[Imus'] ratings were not so terrible, especially when you have a qualitative audience the way he did. Considering more than 5,000 talkers are in America, top 20 is nothing to be embarrassed about," he explains to NewsMax. "That's major league.
"Radio ratings are only one aspect of what makes a host valuable. Loyalty and specifics of demographics. He's a valuable property whether he's 50th, 20th, or first. And now that he's had all this publicity and proved what an important newsmaker he is, I think his appeal as an attraction has been increased."
Indeed, NewsMax Magazine's October 2006 edition put Imus as the 3rd most influential man in radio, due to his high-level demographics in audience, his major newsmaker guests, and his simulcast on MSNBC.
There's no word yet if a new Imus radio show would include a cable simulcast as MSNBC did with his "Imus in the Morning" show.
Another angle of Imus' comeback circulating within the industry has some scratching their heads: Rumors that he has been visiting comedy clubs in search of a black sidekick.
"I think that would be kind of strange," Maloney responds to NewsMax. "You can't predict what Imus will do. He's always been an oddball. If that's the way he returns, that kind of move could backfire. It could be seen as blatant pandering."
Harrison has a different take.
"I don't know how true it is," he tells NewsMax. "But it makes sense. He should work into his routine and repertoire whatever new dimension of understanding he has about race relations.
"The fact is, Imus is not a racist. The whole thing was distorted and trumped up, and he was executed for a crime he really didn't intend to commit."
Boyle also defends Imus: "You only hear about the bad things he's said on the radio. Nobody talks about the things he does for kids with cancer out at his ranch.
"He got railroaded. If there's any chance to bring him back, everybody's going to become a winner."
It looks like CBS blinked when they were told what they were on the hook for after canceling his contract.
“...after making remarks many saw as racist,...”
***
No, it was a very vocal minority who thought they have a god-given right not to be offended. They are the ones who pressed for Imus’ ouster.
Gee, I wonder if Imus has been “rehabilitated.” *Snort*
“he paid. We never said we didn’t want him to make a living.”
How else can Al hope to get paid in the future if Imus isn’t making a living?
I hear he’s anti-Hillary. If so, welcome back.
Don Imus coming back? Oh, good: cranky idiocy redux.
Is there any radio person who’s been permanently fired? They all come back bigger than ever.
Don’t believe any drama you see in life. It’s all an act for attention and money.
namely, Howie Carr (much better). Howie sued Imus (settled out of court) when Howie's wife was slanded on the I-man's show. That paid for a Florida condo
(fake ad by raccoonradio---actually the details are still being worked out on the actual date
If Imus does in fact come back to the airwaves, I wonder if his on-air guests will include, the same liberal losers who threw him under the bus after his “nappy headed ho’s” comment.
That being said, I'd just soon he stay off. Never have liked the guy. I prefer Stern.
Happy Birthday, Don!
Imus got a nice paid vacation
It all started with the Clinton ‘Washington Dinners’ in the 90’s.
When Imus gave speeches knocking them, and basically saying what Americans subconsciously felt about them.
MSNBC finally got tired of Imus bashing Hillary and decided to capitalize on dumping him when the time was right.
My 'theory' is the Clintons got Imus fired through MSNBC from the inside.
“I hear he’s anti-Hillary. If so, welcome back.”
He received a lot of publicity, his show will be bigger than ever.
Sharpton’s probably had Imus fitted with an electro-shock collar in case he says something Al finds offensive.
Unless he keeps Bernie and Charles, his new show will be a puker!
I don’t think the question is will Don Imus be back on the air.
The question is how will he be ‘on the air’.
When the crap hit the fan, Imus was suddenly confronted with the ‘ugly reality’ that those he sucked up to on the leftwing of the political world left him twisting slowly in the breeze of Sharpton’s mouth....they said nothing, and they damn sure did nothing.
Conversely, those that went to bat - and caught all kinds of grief for doing so were on the right of the political talk radio world, including those Imus specifically targetted for decades....Limbaugh, Hannity, Gibson, Ingraham, etc etc etc.
Bottom line is Imus will never be the anchor monster on talk radio he was previously. He’ll never reach the audience was was hitting via MSNBC and the stations that carried him.
I’ll try to hear him the first couple of days, just to see if he learned who his ‘friends’ really are....of if he learned nothing from the past year.
Excellent. Now if they can get him to stop talking about or to, Deirdre.
The left and the MSM just realized they have no national voice sympathetic to lefties what with with the I-man gone. They shot themselves in their own foot. Who else pollutes the airways with the likes of thw boring Kerry, Dodd, Biden, Bill Richardson, the plagaerist, Kerns-Goodwin, any writer the NY Times wants to send over, etc.
O&A all the way. That’s what I say!
In the past, Imus has been staunchly loyal to those who stood by him during his exile to Cleveland...this may prove very interesting.
Wonder if Imus will still be sucking up to the RATS.
Actually Joe Scarborough is doing a good job of sucking up to the Libs. Cripe, he apologized to the Beast for anything he might have said in the past that was unkind.
Who knows, Imus may come back and be a Hillary cheerleader.
“I didn’t think he should have been fired. But it is difficult to argue that Imus’s remarks weren’t racist in nature.
That being said, I’d just soon he stay off. Never have liked the guy. I prefer Stern.”
***
Stern? LOL
Hey, I really don’t care about either one. My view though is that if you don’t like what someone does or says on the air, there is this knob to turn or button to push to either turn off the medium or switch to some other programming.
‘In the past, Imus has been staunchly loyal to those who stood by him during his exile to Cleveland...this may prove very interesting.’
So I’ve heard. I never heard him til he began showing up on MSNBC....so I doubt I’ll ‘hear’ of him til something gets posted here or at one of the MSM web outlets.
We’ll see.
I know he ripped that clown down in Tennessee before he left the air for not speaking on his defense, Harold ‘Call Me!’ Ford Jr....
He may have been..anti-Hillary. but we’ll see if
he has got that old Demstickittothem..back. He has
few Repubs he chats with, but it is maily the Dems..
Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, John Kerry, Joe Biden,
etc...and John McCain on the right...,most of them
stayed silent when he got canned....so if he is on
Hillary’s case..he also is chummy with Carville and that
crowd..so ..to depend on him is not a good idea..JK
Imus will not be going back to MSNBC anytime soon, with the likes of Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and John Ridley on air in that time slot, that network will zoom straight to the top in ratings. < /sarcasm >
I thought he was as dead as Don Ho.
Can he call here a nappy headed Ho?
I swear, that wax likeness almost looks alive, almost.
Not only that . . . their ratings are so far down in the sh!tter that they realize they would have been better off keeping him even if all their major advertisers pulled their spots off the air.
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