Nice to Wake Up to Al Sharpton

[Alaska Darin]

Bitching about Imus and his racism on "Federally Protected Airwaves". Way to hate on the Constitution, "Reverend".

[Bill from NYC]

Bitching about Imus and his racism on "Federally Protected Airwaves". Way to hate on the Constitution, "Reverend".

 

You should be listening to Howard Stern instead.

 

If he wants a dork like Imus to be fired, I wonder what he would think of "Crazy Alice?" The comments by Imus were kind by her standards.

 

For your listening pleasure...... I give you "Crazy Alice," and this is TAME.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

And I should give a sh-- what Sharpton thinks, WHY?

[DC Tom]

And I should give a sh-- what Sharpton thinks, WHY?

 

I was thinking the same about Imus, frankly.

[KD in CA]

I was thinking the same about Imus, frankly.

 

So were Jesse and Al until they realized Imus gave them a chance to get back on the front pages for a few days.

 

Maybe Imus will get lucky and someone will kidnap a pretty blonde girl....

[Observer]

Bitching about Imus and his racism on "Federally Protected Airwaves". Way to hate on the Constitution, "Reverend".

 

Howard did a great line by line deconstruction of Imus's apology today.

 

Imus's apology went something like this (I kid you not). "I was wrong but let me explain. I am not a racist. I make fun of everyone including me. I have black friends. I run a charity that gives money to kids--including black ones. I have dinner with black kids though my charity."

[Alaska Darin]

I was thinking the same about Imus, frankly.

You mean about 15 years ago, right?

[OGTEleven]

I don't really like Imus but think in this case he was more stupid than racist.

 

I think he was basically calling the Rutgers team ugly. I don't think much of it was based on thier race but he used racist words so who knows?

 

IMO, he should look at his own picture on the current front page of the Drudge Report before calling anyone ugly.

[Observer]

I don't really like Imus but think in this case he was more stupid than racist.

 

Seems like the smartest things he's ever done. When was the last time he was in the news? 1986?

 

His star has pretty much fallen off the map like most of the shock-type jocks except Howard. The only talk show hosts I can think of that are hot right now are:

 

Howard Stern

Rush Limbo (ugh)

Sean Hannity

 

After that, I'd have to shrug. Maybe Schlesinger... who else? I like some of the Sirius-only personalities (Martha Stewart's daughter and Jennifer Koppelman-Hutt do a great show on Sirius) and Teri Gross on NPR but they are hardly on the national stage.

[GG]

Seems like the smartest things he's ever done. When was the last time he was in the news? 1986?

 

His star has pretty much fallen off the map like most of the shock-type jocks except Howard. The only talk show hosts I can think of that are hot right now are:

 

Howard Stern

Rush Limbo (ugh)

Sean Hannity

 

After that, I'd have to shrug. Maybe Schlesinger... who else? I like some of the Sirius-only personalities (Martha Stewart's daughter and Jennifer Koppelman-Hutt do a great show on Sirius) and Teri Gross on NPR but they are hardly on the national stage.

 

Have to disagree on this one - 1986 was the last time he's been thought of a shock jock. For the last 20 years, he's made a successful transformation to a political kingsmaker. His show crosses over a wide range of demographics, and any candidate needing to reach voters outside his/her core base has to go on Imus. He jokes about his role in the political races, but he is a vital part of it now. He's widely sought out because he gives every side a fair hearing, and beats up idiots, right or left.

 

Stern still gets the cheap headlines, but he carries a smidgen of heft that Imus does, not matter how much it hurts Stern & his fans to acknowledge it. BTW, when was the last time Stern did something that mattered to other than 1 million or so people who listen to him on Sirius?

[OCinBuffalo]

So were Jesse and Al until they realized Imus gave them a chance to get back on the front pages for a few days.

 

Maybe Imus will get lucky and someone will kidnap a pretty blonde girl....

Bingo! Gotta keep those shake-down, um I mean, "donation" dollars hard at work defending the world from a 60-something shock jock, who wasn't even relevant himself until this incident......

 

Wait a second!

 

Is this the Al Gore - "Make Yourself Appear Relevant Again in 30 Days Plan"? It's 100% guaranteed to work or your money back. Apparently Al has been selling this to lots of people:

 

John Kerry

John McCain

John Edwards

William Shatner

Katie Couric

Mike Tyson

The GM for the Devils

(feel free to add your own)

 

and many many others!

 

How much you wanna bet Al and Don went halfsies on Al's plan?

[Observer]

Have to disagree on this one - 1986 was the last time he's been thought of a shock jock. For the last 20 years, he's made a successful transformation to a political kingsmaker. His show crosses over a wide range of demographics, and any candidate needing to reach voters outside his/her core base has to go on Imus. He jokes about his role in the political races, but he is a vital part of it now. He's widely sought out because he gives every side a fair hearing, and beats up idiots, right or left.

 

Stern still gets the cheap headlines, but he carries a smidgen of heft that Imus does, not matter how much it hurts Stern & his fans to acknowledge it. BTW, when was the last time Stern did something that mattered to other than 1 million or so people who listen to him on Sirius?

 

Are you talking about Don Imus?

[Bill from NYC]

Are you talking about Don Imus?

Really.

 

I am thinking that even after the move to Sirius, Howard has much more listeners than Imus, who has become something of a non-entity in the business, except perhaps to the elderly.

A major difference between the 2 is creativity imo. Most people would walk right past freaks like Crazy Alice, Elliot Offen, High Pitched Eric, etc., whereas Howard sees things that bring out the humor in these people and it goes over. The phone calls from Captain Janks, Sal the Stockbroker and Richard Christie are (poorly) copied by virtually every morning DJ in America.

These things about "are you as smart as a 5th grader" are simply imitations of things that Howard did decades ago. Even Sean Hannity has his "man in the street" asking people who are the Supreme Court Justices, etc. Virtually every DJ makes a living off of imitating Howard, right down to the female side-kicks.

 

I am not thrilled by all of the show's content, and Howard is indeed guilty of a bit of personal hypocrisy (who isn't?), but Imus is passe, and isn't even in the same league as Howard Stern.

[Nanker]

It will be interesting to see how many of his "regular" and "semi-regular" guests continue to show up:

Tim Russert

John McCain

John Kerry

Frank Richardson

Harold Ford Jr.

Paul Begala

James Carville

Mary Matlin

Michael Beschloss

Mike Wallace

Andy Rooney

Evan Thomas...

[N.Y. Orangeman]

Really.

 

I am thinking that even after the move to Sirius, Howard has much more listeners than Imus, who has become something of a non-entity in the business, except perhaps to the elderly.

A major difference between the 2 is creativity imo. Most people would walk right past freaks like Crazy Alice, Elliot Offen, High Pitched Eric, etc., whereas Howard sees things that bring out the humor in these people and it goes over. The phone calls from Captain Janks, Sal the Stockbroker and Richard Christie are (poorly) copied by virtually every morning DJ in America.

These things about "are you as smart as a 5th grader" are simply imitations of things that Howard did decades ago. Even Sean Hannity has his "man in the street" asking people who are the Supreme Court Justices, etc. Virtually every DJ makes a living off of imitating Howard, right down to the female side-kicks.

 

I am not thrilled by all of the show's content, and Howard is indeed guilty of a bit of personal hypocrisy (who isn't?), but Imus is passe, and isn't even in the same league as Howard Stern.

 

Disagree. I'm 32 and love Imus. Putting aside the issues, he gets incredible guests on a daily basis.

 

Eff Revered Al and Jessie; their act is old and tired.

[GG]

Really.

 

I am thinking that even after the move to Sirius, Howard has much more listeners than Imus, who has become something of a non-entity in the business, except perhaps to the elderly.

A major difference between the 2 is creativity imo. Most people would walk right past freaks like Crazy Alice, Elliot Offen, High Pitched Eric, etc., whereas Howard sees things that bring out the humor in these people and it goes over. The phone calls from Captain Janks, Sal the Stockbroker and Richard Christie are (poorly) copied by virtually every morning DJ in America.

These things about "are you as smart as a 5th grader" are simply imitations of things that Howard did decades ago. Even Sean Hannity has his "man in the street" asking people who are the Supreme Court Justices, etc. Virtually every DJ makes a living off of imitating Howard, right down to the female side-kicks.

 

I am not thrilled by all of the show's content, and Howard is indeed guilty of a bit of personal hypocrisy (who isn't?), but Imus is passe, and isn't even in the same league as Howard Stern.

 

Yes, I am talking about Don Imus. His show is heard by about 15 mill people daily, plus the 1/5 million on MSNBC, which is a tad higher than Stern's 1-2 million listeners on Sirius. As others also highlighted, the quality of the guests on his show elevate Imus's political profile much more than Stern.

 

Stern & his fans can crow about his status as King of All Media, but the reality is that since he went to Sirius, he's the King of the Press Release, as he's not a factor anymore. Even in his hayday, has Stern ever attracted the kind of guest that Imus had over the past 15-20 years? I doubt it.

 

Creativity by Stern is in the eye of the beholder, although we should be thankful to him for inventing radio.

[Observer]

Disagree. I'm 32 and love Imus. Putting aside the issues, he gets incredible guests on a daily basis.

Eff Revered Al and Jessie; their act is old and tired.

 

A non-racist would say exactly that. So would a guy with balls.

 

Why does Imus have Reverend Al's rooster in his mouth? Answer: he's a coward and probably a racist.

 

Imus's appearance on Al Sharpton's show yesterday is pure radio gold; he's running scared.

[GG]

Imus's appearance on Al Sharpton's show yesterday is pure radio gold; he's running scared.

 

Of course he is. How would you act if a crackpot suddenly got the strings on your job? You just don't know until you're faced up to it. (Although I understand that things got more contentious on The Today show this AM)

[Observer]

Yes, I am talking about Don Imus. His show is heard by about 15 mill people daily, plus the 1/5 million on MSNBC, which is a tad higher than Stern's 1-2 million listeners on Sirius. As others also highlighted, the quality of the guests on his show elevate Imus's political profile much more than Stern.

 

Stern & his fans can crow about his status as King of All Media, but the reality is that since he went to Sirius, he's the King of the Press Release, as he's not a factor anymore. Even in his hayday, has Stern ever attracted the kind of guest that Imus had over the past 15-20 years? I doubt it.

 

Creativity by Stern is in the eye of the beholder, although we should be thankful to him for inventing radio.

 

I'll avoid the Imus vs. Howard debate. I prefer Howard and find Imus dull but a few things need correction.

 

The following article is complementary to Imus and estimates his radio audience as a little over 3 million people--and the TV show a few hundred thousand. Maybe Imus feeds the masses that 15-20 million number like Howard believes that all of Sirius's 6-7 million subscribers listen to him (still--probably more than 3.25 million do listen).

 

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/bra...audience_s.html

 

What Howard did, moving to Sirius and getting them in the game and effectively wiping XM out of people's mind, is impressive. He's the only guy who could do that.

 

Imus would be suited for a satellite move too because his ratings in each market suck but he'd probably bring a loyal following to XM or Sirius if he moved--and thus create revenue for the stations.

[Observer]

Of course he is. How would you act if a crackpot suddenly got the strings on your job? You just don't know until you're faced up to it. (Although I understand that things got more contentious on The Today show this AM)

This morning, in his Imus apology dissection, Stern and his crew said "!@#$" and "kike" about 50 times making fun of Imus. You think Al will call out Stern?

 

Of course not--Stern would take the "get the eff out of my life" attitude. If Imus had just taken the "it's a joke" approach and skipped all the apologies, this would have gone away quickly. He's probably said worse things and for whatever reasons, people seized on this. Now he's digging his hole.