As I was reading the article about how the Fox Business channel wants to bring in Don Imus (remember Don Imus?) to host a show, I keep thinking, what does Don Imus have to do with business news?
I guess that Fox Business is going to give up on being a business channel and just be a talk show channel.
* * *
I watch CNBC for business news, but I still don’t forgive them for ruining Squawk Box by splitting up the best news gang in history: Mark Haines, Joe “the Kahuna” Kernen, and David “the Brain” Faber.
Fox Business News has been a sponsor of Imus's radio show for months, one of those sponsors that pays extra to get the broadcaster to inject discussion of them into the content of the show in addition to reading ads.
[HS: How come no one's paying me to do that?]
Posted by: DaveinHackensack | August 17, 2009 at 10:02 AM
"one of those sponsors that pays extra to get the broadcaster to inject discussion of them into the content of the show in addition to reading ads"
I believe Howard Stern pioneered that form of sponsorship.
Posted by: Peter | August 17, 2009 at 10:23 AM
"to host a who" < --- typo?
[HS: Yes, I transposed the letters in "show" and dropped the "s." Good thing I have free editors.]
Posted by: Stopped Clock | August 17, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Don Imus is the drunk sitting next to you at a dive bar in Oklahoma City. Like WABC's other no-talent punk, Curtis Sliwa, Imus has survived by coming across to morons as clever and intelligent.
Howard Stern is absolutely correct in his assessment of Imus.
Posted by: Petey | August 17, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Don Imus is not going to help Fox Business at all. After CBS Radio and MSNBC canned him, he lost his balls. Prior to his firing, he was in the news every few months for some controversy or other caused by him or his cast. The Citadel-ABC incarnation of his show hasn't stirred up any controversy, aside from his threatening to shoot a Boston radio host whom he had a grudge against:
http://www.savewrko.com/2009/03/18/why-the-imus-severin-flap-matters
Imus' poor ratings have hurt Citadel, and haven't helped his current TV affiliate, RFD-TV, expand its limited coverage on cable systems. He won't help FBC.
http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2009/03/abc-radio-owner-citadel-communications.html
Posted by: Ferdinand Bardamu | August 17, 2009 at 01:36 PM
Jesus, I haven't cared about Imus since his feuding with Stern in the EARLY '80s, when he got Stern fired from WNBC AM in NYC.
The stories that Stern used to tell about Imus and the GM there were priceless. What did Stern use to call that GM? "Pukeboy" or something of that nature?
Stern knows how to use a good fued for entertainment purposes.
Posted by: The Engineer | August 17, 2009 at 03:09 PM
HS, yes, Haines, Kernan, and Faber are the best! Becky Quick is pretty decent too!
Posted by: Indict Janet Reno | August 17, 2009 at 06:18 PM
@ The Engineer
At WNBC, Stern called his GM "The Incubus" and called his PD "Pig Virus". An amalgam of them was played by Paul Giamatti in Private Parts.
@ Half Sigma
Being a talk channel and being a business channel aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Many radio stations have a different format during morning drive than during the rest of the day.
[HS: The morning is the most important business news slot. Not having a business show in the morning is saying that Fox Business isn't a real business channel.]
Posted by: Michael Hunt | August 17, 2009 at 08:43 PM
"[HS: How come no one's paying me to do that?]"
Drop me an e-mail. I may offer you a deal based on results.
Posted by: DaveinHackensack | August 18, 2009 at 12:18 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/8206661.stm <---cows crush farmer to death (saw this and thought of you)
Posted by: Stopped Clock | August 18, 2009 at 07:02 AM
Yes, Pig Virus. Thanks.
Man, Stern used to have a good rant over that guy. In general, Stern's ranting is almost second to none. Especially when it's something Gary did wrong.
Hard to beleive Gary has put up with that for 25+ years.
Posted by: The Engineer | August 18, 2009 at 08:59 AM