Re: WSMN / Gene Burns

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

Dib9@aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 2/11/00 11:33:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> Sptseditor@aol.com writes:
> 
> << And Deidre. I'm sure all the 65-plus crowd is jealous Imus has a wife who
> is
>  probably 40 years younger than the I-man himself is.
> 
>  -Sean >>
> 
> Check your facts: Deidre is only about 25 years younger than the I-man!
> 
> -- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine
>     Who hopes to have a young wife when he's pushing 60

Dan, line drive up the middle on the Deidre reference (although I
remain happily married to a younger woman, he's got me beat by a
couple of decades!  (I hope my wife's not reading this.  Oy.)  

Imus has a few (self-imposed) miles on him, but presents a persona
that shows you can turn it around and start over.  He hangs in there
with his loyalty to his family and talk team (albeit there's the
characteristic dressing-down on mic.)  By the way, his taking down
his guys - if he does NOT reference you, then you may have
concerns.  Imus won't be seen as a 'talent builder,' with so much
attention focused on him, but he's sold a ton of books (other
authors' at least) and has shown very low turnover amongst his
staff.

He may seem to be a bit ponderous or repetitive, but that is
probably partly due to his obvious awareness of the quarters,
something lost on new talkers.  His formula had to adjust for the TV
side, something he resisted as long as he could.  Even with low
MSNBC numbers, at least he's "on" which counts for more than share,
since it's not his primary medium for his message.  

Bill O'Neill