July 6, 2009
Love him or hate him, Imus is back
- November 30, 2007
By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer More stories
| dfreedlander@am-ny.com
The I-man cometh -- back. But will the shock be gone from the jock?
Eight months after denigrating the women's basketball team at Rutgers with a racially loaded remark, Don Imus is set to return to the airwaves Monday at 6 a.m. with a special broadcast live from Manhattan's Town Hall on his new morning home, 77/WABC.
For his many fans, the return of Imus is like finding water after walking through the desert.
"There is no surviving without Imus," said Pat Alder, of New Paltz, a 30-year listener of the show. "I'm getting the radio reinstalled in my car."
Others though weren't so sure.
"It was a slap in the face to the students and staff at Rutgers that he is allowed to come back after a nine-month vacation and a $20 million buyout," said Deepa Kumar, a media studies professor at Rutgers. "Hate speech is not a joke."
After calling the Rutgers players "nappy headed hos" last April, Imus' simulcast on MSNBC was pulled, followed soon after by his 66/WFAN morning show.
The real question for many radio-watchers, though, is whether the chastened Imus will continue to push the envelope or if he will be too cautious for listeners accustomed to his brand of early morning raunch.
"You go full-bore with lessons learned," said Doug Tracht, who as "the Greaseman," was one of the most popular radio hosts in the '80s and '90s before being forced out for making racially offensive remarks toward blacks. "You just gotta make sure you don't step on the same land-mine."
Imus' new bosses at WABC promise that drive-time listeners will get the I-Man of old.
"I don't think he will change his personality," said Phil Boyce, vice-president of programming for the station. "He's smarter than that. I told him to get in there and do great radio and don't be afraid to do the kind of radio you feel like doing."
But Brian Maloney, who runs the industry blog, "The Radio Equalizer," doesn't see that happening.
"He won't be within 10 miles of controversy," he said. "He's going to turn it into dullsville public affairs programming and have him stick with fluffy interviews. I'm sorry, but younger audiences just aren't into boring radio."
Most industry types said Imus had to figure out the right way to address his extended time away from the mic and the controversy that lead up to it.
"That's the elephant in the room and you need to get it out of the way as quickly as possible," said Rich Masters, who coaches talk show hosts on how to improve their performances
"He needs to address it head-on, take calls from callers about it and then say, 'Starting tomorrow, we are moving on.'"
Regardless, one thing that's clear is that "Imus in the Morning" isn't going away any time soon.
"He'll pick his way through this," said Nicholas Von Hoffman, a journalist who has supported Imus' return on free-speech grounds. "Look at a picture of the man. If that isn't the face of a survivor I don't know what is."
Mixx it!
Copyright © 2009, AM New York