Re: IMUS OUT AT WEEI

[Chuckigo@aol.com]

<< On 9 Jul 99, at 2:48, Kevin Vahey wrote:
  >>WBOS would seem to the be the better fit, as that is a station 
 that could be ripe for a complete overhaul, and 99.5 may not want 
 to anger its solid country base.<<

<< In a message dated 7/9/99 3:15:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
beckwith@ime.net writes:
 But you're ignoring the links Imus has to the country audience.  A 
 lot of his bumper music is country, and he frequently has country 
 stars as guests (not just Delbert!) >>

i had an interesting conversation in the hallways conversation this morning 
that does make way too much sense...
in as much as the venerable (i'll be running out of adjectives soon) Mr. 
J.Donald Imus
is a HUGE country fan (except Alan Jackson, and Brooks and Dunn, and that 
(insert Imus derogative here) Garth Brooks, and well, all those "new country" 
artists).  some of his better airchecks are ones from the WHK days in 
Cleveland.  

and inasmuch as he'd make a good Oldies lead-in, especially when he's got his 
"Motown Mojo" workin'....

and of course, his topicality and ability to mix humor with the days news, 
and sell stuff with the nifty buffalo logo on it (like the shirt charles has 
on now... can we get a closeup of that shirt, man, that's a handsome shirt)...

there are stations who air him in am drive, and then do their "music format" 
after the "revenue generating portion of this station's programming has 
concluded"...
and a lot of these stations find that when Don's gone, so is the audience.

Imus fans will listen to a Country station that has Imus on til 10am.  then, 
they are history.
Country music fans who might like Imus will listen to him, and then stick 
around.
Country music fans who love country music (and there are MORE of them), will 
not listen to an Imus station.  in drive or any other time.  they'll simply 
find another outlet for their particular tastes.
this happens to be the case with Fairbanks in sunny Florida at WCLB, as told 
to me anectdotally. 

Same goes for Oldies and the people who want to hear the music.

yes, there are exceptions to these rules.  in smaller markets, with fewer 
signals, or, with multiple, similarly-formatted stations, then grabbing a big 
morning chunk in favor of a lesser rest-o-the-day is worth it.  especially 
where the syndication fee is no where near seven figures.

The I-Man is a very good, often entertaining & informative, sometimes 
juvenile morning show that features people TALKING.  it's a talk show.  it's 
not a music show.  there's no "twin spin" happening here. (unless it's a 
"best of" and they work in two Rob&TheBartlette's).

IF the Imus In The Morning Show had a successful following in Boston, it'd 
still be on WEEI.  cost - income = not this time.

on any other station, in a major market, at major market figures mentioned 
like the article suggests, you're still coming up with the same sum.    i 
would be curious, though, to see how Imus would fare on a TALK station in 
Boston, where the morning show would lead-in to yet another show featuring 
talk & guests & phone calls.  
and please let me emphasise a difference between talk & sportstalk.

and if those figures are close to correct, then any major market morning host 
possibly being set for launching in favor of Imus should request a pro-rated 
raise for the last 2 weeks of service, since they would, without doubt, at 
that point, be grossly underpaid.

Please don't get me wrong.  i enjoy listening to Imus.  i am one of those 
disgusting, grovelling, pandering, "get-out-of-my-sight" people to whom he so 
often endears himself.   (radio geeks unite and recite:  W Nnnnnn ..... B C)  
i still have the vinyl Drake-Chenault format sampler from 1982 that features 
a killer, 22 minute Imus aircheck, complete with a John/Sean Lennon birthday 
piece, THE BEST PIECE of radio, imho, that he's ever done.   and he thinks 
the Mets really s***.

i just like to refer back to a previous thread on syndication in a major 
market, like Boston.  Boston people have had ample opportunity to "try out" 
syndication.  like the flavor of the day, they soon lose their charm.

chuck igo 

------------------------------