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TIC TOC TIC TOC ON THE IMUS CONTRACT CLOCK
- Thread starter DANRADIO
- Start date
I think it's time to wander off the air and look back on a pretty remarkable career.
The tightrope Imus has had to walk since 2007 between political correctness and being a bad boy is narrower and narrower, and the way radio and cable have changed over the past few years has weakened the product. Add to that the ever-increasing lack of focus, inability to hear or follow the cast, and lack of fresh material or controvesy, and maybe The I-Man will see his time has passed.
I still listen, and sometimes it can be hysterical, but those moments are fewer and fewer...especially when Imus kills comedy bits on a daily basis with inattention or not being able to follow the material. The choke chain around Bernie's throat really stops a lot of humor from airing as well.
Although his debut on Fox Business did draw some significant new audience to the little-watched network, the recent numbers have been poor, if not downright embarrassing, and nothing I've seen recently injects any hope of a strong recovery....of course, FBN only had 21,000 people watching the early mornings before Imus.....
The tightrope Imus has had to walk since 2007 between political correctness and being a bad boy is narrower and narrower, and the way radio and cable have changed over the past few years has weakened the product. Add to that the ever-increasing lack of focus, inability to hear or follow the cast, and lack of fresh material or controvesy, and maybe The I-Man will see his time has passed.
I still listen, and sometimes it can be hysterical, but those moments are fewer and fewer...especially when Imus kills comedy bits on a daily basis with inattention or not being able to follow the material. The choke chain around Bernie's throat really stops a lot of humor from airing as well.
Although his debut on Fox Business did draw some significant new audience to the little-watched network, the recent numbers have been poor, if not downright embarrassing, and nothing I've seen recently injects any hope of a strong recovery....of course, FBN only had 21,000 people watching the early mornings before Imus.....
C
Charlie Heinz
Guest
Next stop YouTube for Imus?
He should have called it a day after "nappy headed hoes", but chose to come back and wheeze his way through every show. Half the time it sounds like one of the crew interrupted "grandpa Imus" nap time, and he should be sitting in one of those old wicker wheelchairs with a blanket on his lap.
I've listened to Imus when I am in town and honestly don't understand why he is even on the air. Watched his show on TV several years back and found it boring even then.
Time to hang it up and give someone else a chance...
Time to hang it up and give someone else a chance...
Seems we are all on the same page.......
I will give Imus his due. He was an incredible jock back in the day, and did rather successfully change over to a mostly talk/current events format, which is no easy feat. And until the last year or two, he was capable of some really great interviews, asking questions no one else would have dared outside satellite radio.
I feel kinda sad that his deafness and resultant near-incoherence, along with his frequent coughing jags, spoil so many good comedy bits and waste so much airtime...it's the main reason he has to cut guests off short some days.
Maybe someone with money to burn could create "Firebrand Radio", a spot on the dial where old "shock jocks" and political commentators could air their stuff until they disappear....
I will give Imus his due. He was an incredible jock back in the day, and did rather successfully change over to a mostly talk/current events format, which is no easy feat. And until the last year or two, he was capable of some really great interviews, asking questions no one else would have dared outside satellite radio.
I feel kinda sad that his deafness and resultant near-incoherence, along with his frequent coughing jags, spoil so many good comedy bits and waste so much airtime...it's the main reason he has to cut guests off short some days.
Maybe someone with money to burn could create "Firebrand Radio", a spot on the dial where old "shock jocks" and political commentators could air their stuff until they disappear....
That, in a nutshell, is exactly what's wrong with the show, and has been since its debut on WABC. The lengthy Country music interludes ... the needless banter gratuitously insulting each other (in high school we called these "rank fights" ... the show just slogs along.
The contrast between the show and the fast-paced Curtis & Kuby was striking right out of the gate. The current Imus show sounds like a Rotary Club meeting hosted by an aging amateur "master of ceremonies." If you can find old airchecks of Imus you'll hear what made him great. This ain't it!
Audio of that buzzard croacking on the air will be priceless
J
jhguthlac
Guest
As someone who really loves and admires Imus, it is sad to hear him some days. He cannot concentrate, stutters a lot, and his breathing is shot. It may be that time.
He was interesting today when he lashed out at WABC owners for how much they have cut the staff. He admitted they needed to cut costs, but commercials they wanted him to read were not available to him in the Fox studios. That is inexcusable.
Of course it is also inexcusable when he says to Lou "what commercial am I supposed to be reading?"
He was interesting today when he lashed out at WABC owners for how much they have cut the staff. He admitted they needed to cut costs, but commercials they wanted him to read were not available to him in the Fox studios. That is inexcusable.
Of course it is also inexcusable when he says to Lou "what commercial am I supposed to be reading?"
I have to wonder about what's going on at WABC in terms of demo positioning. Listening this morning I heard:
- The current Imus promo: "Have you listened to Imus (pause) ... LATELY? Then there's a clip of a group of old folks mumbling to each other.
- A Mark Levin promo: Mark, sounding like a very bitter old man, intones with absolute dispair, "My God! What have we become?"
- Mark Simone gives a glowing introduction to perennial guest Dick Cavett. Cavett quips, "Oh, me! I thought you were talking about Arthur Godfrey!" Arthur who? Then he goes on to discuss Groucho Marx.
Now, I'm old enough to remember Dick Cavett, (almost old enough to remember Arthur Godfrey) but hey, hearing him reminisce about entertainers from half a century ago is not why I listen to news/talk radio.
Some things are not easily changed -- Imus' contract and the requisite Rush/Limbaugh/Levin block, for example -- but is anyone in charge actually monitoring the overall sound of the place? If they want to attract younger demos they need to focus on doing it.
- The current Imus promo: "Have you listened to Imus (pause) ... LATELY? Then there's a clip of a group of old folks mumbling to each other.
- A Mark Levin promo: Mark, sounding like a very bitter old man, intones with absolute dispair, "My God! What have we become?"
- Mark Simone gives a glowing introduction to perennial guest Dick Cavett. Cavett quips, "Oh, me! I thought you were talking about Arthur Godfrey!" Arthur who? Then he goes on to discuss Groucho Marx.
Now, I'm old enough to remember Dick Cavett, (almost old enough to remember Arthur Godfrey) but hey, hearing him reminisce about entertainers from half a century ago is not why I listen to news/talk radio.
Some things are not easily changed -- Imus' contract and the requisite Rush/Limbaugh/Levin block, for example -- but is anyone in charge actually monitoring the overall sound of the place? If they want to attract younger demos they need to focus on doing it.
B
Bob1370
Guest
If Imus does pack it in--who replaces him?
The only way they could be sure to get big sampling and cume, is to bring in Stern--and he'd only come if a) he got a monster block of Cumulus stock, and b) the Supreme Court really does blow up the indecency rules as arbitrary and unenforceable when they rule later this year on the "wardrobe malfunction" cases. All of that could happen--but if it doesn't, who could they possibly bring in to do that crucial daypart?
The only way they could be sure to get big sampling and cume, is to bring in Stern--and he'd only come if a) he got a monster block of Cumulus stock, and b) the Supreme Court really does blow up the indecency rules as arbitrary and unenforceable when they rule later this year on the "wardrobe malfunction" cases. All of that could happen--but if it doesn't, who could they possibly bring in to do that crucial daypart?
Howard isn't going to go back to getting up at 4am to be on an AM station in only NYC? Or even syndicated to a few other markets? I don't think that's going to happen, the guy's almost 60 and doesn't need the hassle. Now with AGT, he has the national exposure again on a broadcast outlet.
Time to find a new Imus, or a new Howard to step in and have the next hit show.
Time to find a new Imus, or a new Howard to step in and have the next hit show.
WNTIRadio said:
Remember how that went when Howard left?
Here's my theory: Talent is heritage. Just like you can't replace heritage, you can't replace a central talent. When Imus packs it in, that's it. There is no second string that his audience will accept waiting in the wings. Talk radio is all about the host. Unless the format of the station is strong enough, as it was at WFAN, you will have a black hole, as you did at XRK.
You might try and look for some heritage with a pre-sold audience. But if that doesn't work, starting from scratch is a long hard trip. The Cumulus folks have the advantage of a lot of stations to draw on, but it won't matter. Heritage is local. You can be a big star in LA, but it won't matter in NY.
Heritage is local, yes, but where radio has failed is in the farm system growing the next crop of "heritage". The other problem is, the second someone gets good in NYC, they take them national and there goes your heritage. Hannity was a good local host on WABC when he replaced Grant. Fast paced, NYC centric, kept the callers moving, entertaining. Now it's just 3 hours of people in the flyover states parroting "yer a great Americun Shawwwn" over and over again.
Strangely, the one syndicated show that sounds the most NYC is Savage, because of his NYC roots.
WXRK turned into a black hole, because instead of picking from the farm system or someone to do a show that was similar, yet his or her own from Stern, they threw DLR at the problem. By the time they brought back O&A it was too late, and their show was watered down due to the terrestrial and XM split they had going on. And the audience was already gone from DLR and had forgotten about those two.
As far as the new crop of talkers on now that are local NYC hosts, the only one that has any type of entertainment value is Gambling. I'm not counting the Sports Talk stations in this assessment, that's a separate animal to me. Geraldo is generally pleasant to listen to, but he doesn't REACT to any callers. They all call in, have an opinion and then he moves on. It's a two way monologue, not a dialogue. Gov. Patterson is a royal snooze, and he's always stumbling all over himself. Everyone on this board must know how I feel about Joan Hamburg by now... the old bat yapping about food and Broadway. There's some edge of your seat radio, only if the edge is a wheelchair and you're slipping out of it on the way to the afterlife.
Curtis Sliwa is Curtis. You either like him or hate him. But even that schtick, while NYC sounding for sure, is stale.
Where is the next generation of talkers? Someone in their late 30's who can put on a good show? Remember, Stern was 28 (!!!!) when he got to WNNNNBC. And Imus' audience is only there because there's no other good morning shows. When he was on against Stern, he had a lot fewer listeners. But Stern is nearly 60. Imus sounds like he remembers the revolutionary war. I don't see Howard going back to the daily grind of a morning show on WABC. Also don't see Cumulus paying him what it would take for him to consider that.
Strangely, the one syndicated show that sounds the most NYC is Savage, because of his NYC roots.
WXRK turned into a black hole, because instead of picking from the farm system or someone to do a show that was similar, yet his or her own from Stern, they threw DLR at the problem. By the time they brought back O&A it was too late, and their show was watered down due to the terrestrial and XM split they had going on. And the audience was already gone from DLR and had forgotten about those two.
As far as the new crop of talkers on now that are local NYC hosts, the only one that has any type of entertainment value is Gambling. I'm not counting the Sports Talk stations in this assessment, that's a separate animal to me. Geraldo is generally pleasant to listen to, but he doesn't REACT to any callers. They all call in, have an opinion and then he moves on. It's a two way monologue, not a dialogue. Gov. Patterson is a royal snooze, and he's always stumbling all over himself. Everyone on this board must know how I feel about Joan Hamburg by now... the old bat yapping about food and Broadway. There's some edge of your seat radio, only if the edge is a wheelchair and you're slipping out of it on the way to the afterlife.
Curtis Sliwa is Curtis. You either like him or hate him. But even that schtick, while NYC sounding for sure, is stale.
Where is the next generation of talkers? Someone in their late 30's who can put on a good show? Remember, Stern was 28 (!!!!) when he got to WNNNNBC. And Imus' audience is only there because there's no other good morning shows. When he was on against Stern, he had a lot fewer listeners. But Stern is nearly 60. Imus sounds like he remembers the revolutionary war. I don't see Howard going back to the daily grind of a morning show on WABC. Also don't see Cumulus paying him what it would take for him to consider that.
WNTIRadio said:
If the "farm system" is anywhere besides NYC, it won't matter. You don't "grow" heritage. You have it or you don't. The audience is unforgiving to developing radio talent. Perhaps the last talk host from the "farm system" was Carton. The only reason that show works is Boomer. Carton is just the other guy. Carton by himself isn't the same regardless of how many years he worked at NJ101.5. No one cares.
Regarding Stern, who could have replaced him? Give me a name. Someone New Yorkers know and would accept. Booker? He was in the XRK farm system. Imagine him as a talk show host replacing Stern.
The truth is there can't be a farm system. The only way this works is someone sticks their foot in the pool and see if anyone bites. That's the farm system. You have a better chance building an audience online first, then taking it to radio. Doing it the old way won't work because the audience won't accept it. And yes, the minute you make it in NY, someone will offer syndication, because it's a way for the talent to make money. Hannity wouldn't work for union scale in NYC. He demands the syndication money. And syndication money without that audience doesn't work financially. So that's why there's no local talk in NYC. The good folks are too expensive, and the other ones, like Sliwa and Patterson, are invisible.
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