The Return of the I Man

The news has broken and Don Imus a.k.a the I Man will be returning to the airwaves on WABC NY for the same company that syndicates Sean Hannity.  So, we can only assume that syndication is around the corner.  Just six months after his career was left for dead by the conventional wisdom pundits, he is coming back; and ready to settle a few scores.

To be up front – I am a long time listener and fan of Don Imus.  I started listening to his show as kid in my Dad’s car in the early 70’s.  I listened to his show almost every morning from 1993 (when syndicated in Boston) through his dismissal in April, and I watched the MSNBC simulcast as well.  I loved the mix of somewhat juvenile edgy humor and high minded political and literary discourse.  I enjoyed the way he would shift from a nasty/funny song parody to a serious political conversation or review of a new book.  Also, you saw a side of people like Pat Buchannan, Tim Russert and Jeff Greenfield you didn’t get from them during their “real jobs”.  The show became a staple in my daily routine and often the way I got my news.

Clearly, Imus crossed the line with his comment about the young ladies at Rutgers.  The rich, famous and powerful are fair game, but 20 yr old hard working college students are not.  I wish he didn’t say it, but it shouldn’t wipe out all the good he has tried to do for people over the years, and the business success he brought CBS, NBC and his many sponsors.  He deserved a slap and suspension, but not to be fired.

It is well documented how Imus came under fire in a barrage of hypocrisy, political correctness, corporate wimpiness, and general media piling on that seems to be the fashion of the day.  How Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson got to be the arbiters of what is right in America is maddening and best left alone.  However, it was not shocking that these two publicity hounds went after Imus like raw meat while giving rappers and hip hop culture a free ride for using the same words.

What I found most disappointing and dispiriting was the way the sponsors, NBC’s Jeff Zucker and CBS’s Les Moonves caved like a cardboard suitcases within days of the story catching fire.  These two big traditional media companies knew what they were getting into with Imus.  In fact, his CBS Radio contract called for him to be “edgy and provocative”.  Regular guests who went on his show to hawk their books bailed on him in the sanctimonious hand wringing that followed.   I was so angry, I haven’t watched MSNBC since this happened, and have switched my allegiance from NBC News to ABC.   I was not alone - read the comments to this blog post and check out this site to buy Save Imus t-shirts.

I also knew he would be back – I figured by early 2008 at the latest.  A couple of reason why it was a no-brainer that he would be back in the saddle in today’s media world.

1. He has a loyal following representing a built-in audience waiting to come back and listen; and more importantly patronize any sponsors who come back.  There are always going to be struggling radio stations that will take a chance at capturing this revenue.

2. His core audience of middle age white people was probably not all that outraged at his comments.  Not to say they condone what he said, but it was no worse than the usual equal opportunity beat downs on the show.  While what he said was bad, they are just words, he didn’t kill anyone.

3. He has a track record with sponsors – isn’t that what radio is all about – selling stuff.  The man knows how to move product.

4. Companies like NBC and CBS don’t control the media world anymore – they have become like any large conservative public corporation – pumping out safe stuff for the masses.  They don’t want Imus or Howard Stern working for them anymore – too risky for next quarter’s earning report for Wall Street.  That is why we get multiple versions of CSI and Law and Order and pap like the new Bionic Woman and Kid Nation.  There has been zero buzz about the new TV season.  Have the major networks ever been less relevant in the lives of Americans?

The lesson, boys and girls (an Imus phrase) is that it’s ALWAYS about the money.  Sponsors fled when Sharpton and Jackson threatened boycott which in turn made CBS and NBC abandon someone who had been loyal and successful for them.

The dust has settled and the attention deficit disorder media are on to other things, the coast is clear for Imus to return because there is money on the table to be made from sponsors desiring his affluent audience.

As we say in New York – money talks and bullshit walks.  See ya’ later Al, Jesse, Jeff and Leslie – the I Man rides again.