CBS Radio Fires Imus, Moves “Mike & The Mad Dog” To AM Slot

“Mike & The Mad Dog” Takes Imus’ Time Slot On WFAN

With WFAN-AM parent company CBS Radio firing morning talk show host Don Imus for comments made about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, WFAN plans to install “Mike & the Mad Dog” in Imus’ former time slot “at least temporarily,” according to a company exec cited by Carter & Steinberg of the N.Y. TIMES. But the prospect of moving co-hosts Mike Francesa and Chris Russo into the time slot “did not stop [them] ... from blistering their employer, CBS Radio, for cutting ties to Mr. Imus in the midst of” the station’s radio-thon, which ran from yesterday until this morning. Russo: “They should know better. A sophomore in college handles this better” (N.Y. TIMES, 4/13). Imus was carried on 61 stations nationwide through CBS Radio programming partner Westwood One, but it “was not clear whether the Westwood One affiliates would carry ‘Mike’ or another show” for the time being (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/13). On Long Island, Neil Best writes while moving Francesa and Russo from the afternoon to morning “would represent a radical lifestyle change for two middle-aged suburban family men,” there is “no other personality on the WFAN roster [that] is capable of carrying the morning drive slot.” ESPN 1050 “lacks strong candidates as well.” WFAN is “believed to have been keeping an eye on sports hosts from other markets to prepare for a possible Imus ouster, or at least his eventual retirement” (NEWSDAY, 4/13).

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: CBS execs “stressed that their decision wasn’t based on the bottom line. Imus was profitable, but he wasn’t a huge moneymaker for CBS.” A source said his show generated $18-20M in revenues annually and that “profit to CBS was less than” $3M a year. A senior CBS official said, “This absolutely was not about economics, it was about doing the right thing” (L.A. TIMES, 4/13). But in Toronto, William Houston writes, “Major advertisers were pulling out. That was the big issue. Ethical and moral considerations seemed less important” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 4/13). Bank of America securities media analyst Jonathan Jacoby estimated that Imus’ show “generated about $11[M] in annual revenue — numbers that would account for less than 1% of CBS’ pretax earnings for 2006.” Jacoby: “CBS won’t miss the I-Man’s impact on the bottom line.” In L.A., Miller & James note it is “unclear whether CBS will have to pay Imus to end his contract early.” He recently negotiated a five-year deal that reportedly paid him $10M a year (L.A. TIMES, 4/13). USA TODAY’s Peter Johnson notes Imus’ show “was heard by 2.5 million listeners a week and took in $15[M] annually” (USA TODAY, 4/13). NEWSDAY’s Best reports the revenue Imus generated was “estimated at about a quarter of [WFAN’s] total” (NEWSDAY, 4/13).

ANATOMY OF A DECISION: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Barnes, Steel & McBride cite a source as saying that Viacom Exec Chair Sumner Redstone “left the decision to pull the show largely to” CBS President & CEO Les Moonves. On Thursday, Moonves “spent an hour and a half meeting with about 10 African-American leaders and women’s rights advocates” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/13). Colts coach Tony Dungy, who was part of that group, said, “There is a teaching lesson here for all Americans. We need to move toward a more civil society” (USA TODAY, 4/13).

Imus Meets With Rutgers Univ. Women’s Basketball Team

SORTING THINGS OUT: After meeting with Imus yesterday, Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer indicated that the team had accepted his apology (AP, 4/13). Rev. DeForest Soaries, the pastor of the church attended by Stringer, moderated the meeting between Imus and the team. On the “Today” show this morning, Soaries said, “Mr. Imus has repeatedly said it was a joke, he didn’t think anything of it. And [the players] wanted to know, how could you be as old as you are, as experienced as you are, and not understand the impact of what you do for a living?” But K.C Star columnist Jason Whitlock, who appeared live via satellite immediately after Soaries, objected to the Rutgers team’s reaction to the situation and to the nature of Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson’s involvement in the controversy. Whitlock, an African American, said the team is “not being led properly, because no one should be convincing them that somehow Don Imus is so powerful that he has destroyed their basketball season and their accomplishments and that somehow their life has been scarred” (“Today,” NBC, 4/13).

RUN OF SHOW: KCAA-AM, a 1400-watt station in San Bernardino, California, will kick off an ongoing “Best of Imus” series next week, beginning Monday with the show during which Imus made the comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. KCAA will “intersperse the program with listener mail and e-mail about the weeklong furor –-almost all supportive of Imus.” KCAA Chair Fred Lundgren: “Unless we get a court order to cease and desist, we’re going to run it. I’m not going to let networks dictate to me who I run on my station” (L.A. TIMES, 4/13).