SportsFan
04-28-2008, 10:54 AM
http://www.Talking Up Imus
James Brady, 04.24.08, 6:00 AM ET
Following a six-month exile, Don Imus came back on the air last December over WABC radio in New York and a scatter of other stations, and telecast over a jury-rigged television setup anchored by the rural-based RFD-TV. Since he'd been sacked last April by Viacom, CBS, WFAN radio, MSNBC and everybody but the Boy Scouts of America, the National Rifle Association and The Little Sisters of the Poor, there was much drama about his return: yelps of outrage, cheers from Imus cultists, a few shrugs of disinterest and some genuine puzzlement.
Had the man learned his lesson? Would the public buy his "new, cleaned-up act," would the usual suspects, the pols, celebs and authors who'd been sucking up to him for years, and then recoiled in pious horror, once again be scrambling for a piece of his precious air time, and could the ABC folks ever recoup the serious dough they were paying him? Would Madison Avenue boycott the guy and spend its advertising dollars elsewhere or embrace him with touching hosannas and "welcome homes"?
This last factor is key since it was not until advertisers began canceling out on Imus a year ago that the broadcast suits and the ad agents abandoned him for his sins.
On Sunday, Feb. 3, The New York Times' Jacques Steinberg did a favorable piece headlined: "All Forgiven, WIMUS Is On A Roll." Wrote Steinberg: "Mr. Imus has moved with relative ease from transgression to redemption." The Times reporter also ticked off the major advertisers, the celebrity names and the additional media (such as the huge Comcast cable system), that have now apparently returned to or newly listed themselves in Imus' corner.
I was a guest on one of those early shows the second week in December plugging my new non-fiction, the tenth book of mine he'd allowed me to flog on his show since 1990. Imus was still sporting the cowboy hat and boots, but had recruited two new African-American on-air talents. Longtime producer and on-air wit Bernie McGuirk (also sacked with Imus), was back on the show but at work across Seventh Avenue producing from an ABC studio, along with veteran engineer Lou Ruffino, while Imus newsman and sidekick Charles McCord and comedian Rob Bartlett worked the show onstage with Don and the cast in a mini-theater of sorts. TV cameras sent a video version of the show to RFD-TV in the Midwest.
On air, Imus appeared delighted to be back, but acknowledged still being sore at some of his former "friends" for their lack of support during his (self-created) crisis. "I like Tom Brokaw, but you don't share a foxhole with him," was typical of his remarks. Since then, I've continued to listen (Jesse Jackson was on recently, all bonhomie and guffaws, with the two men promising to have lunch), as Imus seemed to be getting up to speed, while from time to time reporting the positive news that yet another station or major advertiser had signed on. But that was Imus talking. What were the facts?
Last Friday, I called WABC radio honcho Phil Boyce in Manhattan to get some specifics. "We've got him on about 40 stations now," said Boyce. "The old show (the one based on WFAN) claimed about 62, but we've only been able to confirm 47. So we're getting close to level. New stations are in D.C., and Atlanta, both of them FM stations we own, and an FM in Boston and stations in Providence and Tampa. Ratings from February are good. In the 12-plus category, he's No. 3 in morning drive, behind WINS at 6.8 and ZOO100 at 5.7, with Imus in the Morning at 5.6."
Being a troublemaker, I asked about WFAN, Imus' old station. In those ratings that placed Imus at No. 3, WFAN's new morning drive team was in 19th place in the count at a 2.3, Boyce noted with what I suspect was some pleasure. In another rating system based on average quarter-hour listenership, Imus scored 105,700, while WFAN had only 44,000. "We're trending up," concluded Boyce.
But what about the advertising? "It's coming in," said Phil, "and we're getting much higher rates, and we're getting closer to sellouts." And the man himself, a good coat, clear eye, is he behaving? Said the ABC exec, "He's sounding well and seems at peace with himself. And I think he's in a better place. He was doing issue talk on a sports station and now he's doing issue talk on an issue talk station."
Early in May, Don will also host his annual radiothon with the bucks going to several different charities, mainly for kids. Contributions and pledges this year should be another yardstick by which to measure how far the guy has come back. Stay tuned.
James Brady, 04.24.08, 6:00 AM ET
Following a six-month exile, Don Imus came back on the air last December over WABC radio in New York and a scatter of other stations, and telecast over a jury-rigged television setup anchored by the rural-based RFD-TV. Since he'd been sacked last April by Viacom, CBS, WFAN radio, MSNBC and everybody but the Boy Scouts of America, the National Rifle Association and The Little Sisters of the Poor, there was much drama about his return: yelps of outrage, cheers from Imus cultists, a few shrugs of disinterest and some genuine puzzlement.
Had the man learned his lesson? Would the public buy his "new, cleaned-up act," would the usual suspects, the pols, celebs and authors who'd been sucking up to him for years, and then recoiled in pious horror, once again be scrambling for a piece of his precious air time, and could the ABC folks ever recoup the serious dough they were paying him? Would Madison Avenue boycott the guy and spend its advertising dollars elsewhere or embrace him with touching hosannas and "welcome homes"?
This last factor is key since it was not until advertisers began canceling out on Imus a year ago that the broadcast suits and the ad agents abandoned him for his sins.
On Sunday, Feb. 3, The New York Times' Jacques Steinberg did a favorable piece headlined: "All Forgiven, WIMUS Is On A Roll." Wrote Steinberg: "Mr. Imus has moved with relative ease from transgression to redemption." The Times reporter also ticked off the major advertisers, the celebrity names and the additional media (such as the huge Comcast cable system), that have now apparently returned to or newly listed themselves in Imus' corner.
I was a guest on one of those early shows the second week in December plugging my new non-fiction, the tenth book of mine he'd allowed me to flog on his show since 1990. Imus was still sporting the cowboy hat and boots, but had recruited two new African-American on-air talents. Longtime producer and on-air wit Bernie McGuirk (also sacked with Imus), was back on the show but at work across Seventh Avenue producing from an ABC studio, along with veteran engineer Lou Ruffino, while Imus newsman and sidekick Charles McCord and comedian Rob Bartlett worked the show onstage with Don and the cast in a mini-theater of sorts. TV cameras sent a video version of the show to RFD-TV in the Midwest.
On air, Imus appeared delighted to be back, but acknowledged still being sore at some of his former "friends" for their lack of support during his (self-created) crisis. "I like Tom Brokaw, but you don't share a foxhole with him," was typical of his remarks. Since then, I've continued to listen (Jesse Jackson was on recently, all bonhomie and guffaws, with the two men promising to have lunch), as Imus seemed to be getting up to speed, while from time to time reporting the positive news that yet another station or major advertiser had signed on. But that was Imus talking. What were the facts?
Last Friday, I called WABC radio honcho Phil Boyce in Manhattan to get some specifics. "We've got him on about 40 stations now," said Boyce. "The old show (the one based on WFAN) claimed about 62, but we've only been able to confirm 47. So we're getting close to level. New stations are in D.C., and Atlanta, both of them FM stations we own, and an FM in Boston and stations in Providence and Tampa. Ratings from February are good. In the 12-plus category, he's No. 3 in morning drive, behind WINS at 6.8 and ZOO100 at 5.7, with Imus in the Morning at 5.6."
Being a troublemaker, I asked about WFAN, Imus' old station. In those ratings that placed Imus at No. 3, WFAN's new morning drive team was in 19th place in the count at a 2.3, Boyce noted with what I suspect was some pleasure. In another rating system based on average quarter-hour listenership, Imus scored 105,700, while WFAN had only 44,000. "We're trending up," concluded Boyce.
But what about the advertising? "It's coming in," said Phil, "and we're getting much higher rates, and we're getting closer to sellouts." And the man himself, a good coat, clear eye, is he behaving? Said the ABC exec, "He's sounding well and seems at peace with himself. And I think he's in a better place. He was doing issue talk on a sports station and now he's doing issue talk on an issue talk station."
Early in May, Don will also host his annual radiothon with the bucks going to several different charities, mainly for kids. Contributions and pledges this year should be another yardstick by which to measure how far the guy has come back. Stay tuned.