What ABC wants from Imus
TEXT OF STORY
Doug Krizner: Shock jock Don Imus is back on the air this morning on ABC Radio. It’s been eight months since he was fired by CBS Radio and MSNBC for racist remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.
After the incident, Imus was generally considered in disgrace. So what does Imus have that ABC wants? Here’s Ashley Milne-Tyte.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: In a word, advertisers.
Mike Stern: I mean, he had a very solid advertising base in the show on CBS’s WFAN.
Mike Stern is news, talk and sports editor at Radio and Records:
Stern: And there’s opportunity for syndication across the country, which can generate revenue. It’s a good business proposition for them.
That’s assuming Imus’s advertisers do come flocking back. They’re banking on his celebrity guests making a return.
Stern says initially, the forthright host will depend on his closest famous friends to reappear:
Stern: After the initial furor of his relaunch dies down, I think you’ll see more and more of the guests that he used to get coming back to him.
Imus’s salary is rumored to be in the $5-$8 million range. Stern says ABC will need to syndicate the show widely to justify those numbers.
In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
