Shock Jocks, The Media, Rush Limbaugh and to HELL with NOW December 18, 2007

Pulling the Plug on Electronic and Print News

Having spent a few years on this planet (just enough, not too many), I had the joy of growing up as television evolved in the 1960’s. I had a chance to watch some of the gods of television news during my youth: Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite and others. I don’t remember Edward R. Murrow, but I learned of him studying journalism in college.

Through the 1970’s and into the 1980’s, the forces that made television news reliable and balanced began to mutate. One memorable event was when Roone Arledge, the genius behind ABC’s Wide World of Sports, became the news guru for the network. This marked a progression from news as a public service to news as entertainment (and a profitable source for advertising revenues).

Another memorable moment (in the midst of tremendous sadness) was when the American Embassy in Tehran was stormed in 1979 and ABC began running an 11:30 PM review of the day’s events called America Held Hostage: Day xx with Ted Koppel. Although we were later spared the indignity of this ridiculous title when the program was renamed Nightline, we have since been subjected to a never-ending stream of ludicrous monikers for heart-breaking news events and boring news stories (doesn’t AMERICA DECIDES sound so wonderfully thrilling?).

The final event worth noting was the birth and expansion of cable/satellite TV and the swelling of available channels into the hundreds. As a kid growing up outside New York City, we were blessed with ABC, NBC and CBS along with three independents (WOR, WPIX, and WNEW) plus WNET, the PBS station. How the heck did we survive with so few choices?

Network news programs at 6:00 PM were soon preceded by local news. Local news programs expanded to an hour. Ted Turner launched CNN. Before we knew it, we had talking heads shouting news and fluff at us 24/7 on dozens of channels, each competing for advertising revenues and audience shares by shoving every conceivable story under our noses. Thus, the mutation of true news stories into “no-news” news, sound bytes, spin and every imaginable human interest story possible.

Imus Debuts on WABC-AM December 3, 2007

Listeners Assured Nothing Has Changed

With his usually tongue-in-cheek and angry edge, Don Imus assured listeners that nothing about his new show on WABC-AM in New York City will be different. He added that “Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I am back on the radio!” to the cheers and applause of a sold-out audience who paid $100 each to attend the maiden broadcast live at NYC’s Town Hall.

Imus also quipped that he signed a five-year contract with Citadel Broadcasting because “it is going to take me five years alone to get even with everybody.”

The Imus program was syndicated to a number of other stations around the country and more, including other Citadel stations, are likely to sign up. The program was also simulcast on cable by RFD-TV, owned by Rural Media Group, Inc, that reaches almost 30 million homes. RFD-TV hopes Imus will get their subscriber base up to 50 million homes in the next two years.

Imus seemed genuinely contrite about the events that led to his termination. He recounted his meeting with the Rutgers’ team for the first time and made his first public comments about his removal from the airwaves on April 12 by CBS Radio. While his comments are unlikely to appease his critics, Imus seemed far more concerned with offering another apology and making his case to his loyal fans. He also added that the whole mess was his own fault. When talking about his anger and frustration over the last eight months, he said, “I would remind myself that if I hadn’t said what I said, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

Imus Return Scheduled for December 1 October 7, 2007

Imus Reportedly Ready to Sign with Citadel Broadcasting

According to the Washington Post, radio is about to get better again with the return of Don Imus to the airwaves. In a somewhat surprising move that was the subject of speculation in August, Citadel Broadcasting is close to a deal that will put Imus on WAB-AM radio in New York City. This will be a ratings coup for Citadel nationally and in the New York market.

The Washington Post article cites someone close to the negotiations in reporting that Imus will land the coveted morning spot currently held by the award-winning team of Curtis Sliwa, founder and leader of the Guardian Angels, and Ron Kuby, a high-powered attorney. The Imus show will reportedly be avilable for syndication and a TV outlet is also being sought.

The move comes less than six months following Imus’ termination by CBS Radio and MSNBC for the incident with the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Imus reached a settlement on his contract with CBS Radio in August. Kia Vaughn of the Rutgers team filed a lawsuit against Imus following the CBS settlement but withdrew it in September.

Rutgers’ Star Kia Vaughn Sues Imus, CBS, CBS Radio, MSNBC and others August 21, 2007

The Backlash from the Imus-CBS Settlement Begins

Al Sharpton Still Cannot Shut His Mouth!

As it has been widely reported through the media in the last few days, Rutger’s basketball player has filed a defamation of character lawsuit against radio host Don Imus, sidekick Bernard McGuirk and CBS Radio for the “nappy-headed ho” comments made last April. According to USA Today, the lawsuit was filed hours after the settlement between Imus and CBS Radio was announced.

The suit claims that Vaughn was humiliated, embarrassed and publicly mocked for the comments. According to attorney Richard Ancowitz, the lawsuit is “basically about vindicating my client’s good name. This is not a situation she ever asked for, and she would love to turn the clock back. But unfortunately she can’t, because of what Don Imus said on April 4.”

Ancowitz speaks with forked tongue, people. This lawsuit is only about one thing: MONEY!

Imus and CBS Radio Reach Settlement August 14, 2007

Is an Imus Resurrection Imminent?

The Associated Press has reported that veteran radio broadcaster Don Imus and his former employer, CBS Radio, have reached a settlement that sidesteps a potential breech of contract lawsuit for $120 million threatened by Imus. It is widely speculated that the settlement clears the way for Imus to make a return to the airwaves.

Imus was terminated without notice by CBS Radio in April following disparaging remarks made by Imus and sidekick Bernard McGuirk in the early morning hours of the nationally syndicated show and its simulcast on MSNBC. It was since uncovered that Imus’ termination was carefully orchestrated by staffer Ryan Chiachiere of Media Matters for America, a front for the Hillary Clinton campaign operating as a non-profit organization.

Imus’ contract required CBS Radio to issue a formal warning in writing about any of the show’s content that was deemed objectionable. CBS radio terminated Imus without such a written warning in the middle of Imus’ major annual fundraising effort for SID’s, The CJ Foundation and Tomorrow’s Children. This was after MSNBC had decided to end the simulcast and, presumably, Imus’ sponsors had pulled out.

An Interesting 2008 Presidential “Blind” Poll

Website Let’s You Vote Your Conscience on Issues, Not Political Hype

Americans seem to be caught up in a frenzy of media hype for the 2008 Presidential Election well in advance of the first primary voting. One has to marvel that candidates are doing the same thing to the presidential elections that the retail industry did to Christmas. Just like holiday sales advertising that starts in October, we have begun the commercialization of the electoral process way ahead of conventional schedules.

Some might find this to be a healthy situation, but its positive impacts are only superficial.. We’ve already had debates, serious fundraising, name calling, media spin, character assassinations and the endless polls. Some analysts have suggested that candidates who are unable to garner 3% audience recognition at this unusually early date should consider dropping out.

The good news is that an organization called 2decide.com has developed a web site that allows voters to see which candidate best represents the issues most important to them. By visiting http://www.dehp.net/candidate/, voters can program their answers to 25 campaign issues and then see how all the candidates, Democrats and Republicans, measure up on those issues. My favorite political pundit and long-time friend, Tim McHugh of Area 51 Special Effects, promised me that I would be surprised at who was the campaign leader BASED SOLELY on a blind poll about the issues important to Americans. And I honestly was surprised!

CBS Doesn’t Know Jack about Radio July 16, 2007

The Oldies Return to WCBS-FM in New York, NY

The author is a former Oldies DJ for WDAQ-FM in Danbury, CT, and WCZX-FM in Poughkeepsie, NY. The former owner of Bluboo Radio, one of the Internet’s first on-demand radio programs, has a Master of Science in Education, a minor in Journalism and has studied the history of Rock and Roll and radio broadcasting.

On July 12, 2007, at 1:01 PM, WCBS Radio started its attempt to reverse the betrayal of its loyal listener base by canning Jack-FM, its voice-tracked, computer operated jukebox, and bringing back the successful Oldies format dumped unceremoniously on June 3, 2005, in favor of Jack-FM.

According to The Journal News, WCBS-FM will follow the trend of most oldies formats by playing hits from the 1960’s and the 1970’s, ignoring the 1950’s except through some special programming. While it will be good to hear Bob Shannon and Dan Taylor again, the old familiar voices of “Cousin Brucie” Morrow and his contemporaries will be sorely missed.

The cautious radio listener will avoid being dazzled by this blatant publicity move on the part of CBS Radio, which is still suffering the throes of ratings losses as a result of its mismanagement over the last two years. Besides the Jack-FM fiasco, CBS Radio took a major ratings plunge when it callously fired Don Imus. In short, they are likely to lose a major lawsuit that will require them to pay-off the remaining $30 million on Imus’ contract. In that light, this is a move by CBS Radio to garner radio ratings and advertising revenues, not to be penitent to the listeners it betrayed.

If you cannot forgive CBS Radio, and you really have no reason to forgive them, there are plenty of great oldies stations to choose from in the metro New York market, including: WVLT-FM (92.1, Vineland, NJ), WTKU (Cool 98.2, Ocean City, NJ), WJRZ-FM (100.1, Manahawkin), WMTR-AM (1250, Morristown, NJ), WMID-AM (1340, Atlantic City), WNNJ-AM (1360, Newton, NJ), WHTG-AM (1410, Eatontown, NJ), WGHT-AM (1500, Pompton Lakes), WRNJ-AM (1510, Hackettstown, NJ) and WREF-AM (850, Danbury, CT).

If you still don’t think this move is self-serving, you may ask yourself why the publicity department has already rewritten the Wikipedia article about “Oldies” to put WCBS-FM back at the forefront of Oldies Radio. This is not true yet and may not be true ever again.

Payback Time for MSNBC July 8, 2007

First, I’d like to extend a hearty thanks to Catcleopatrick for a very nice referral on the MSNBC discussion board, post #756. You are tops, Cat.

In message 758, Cat supplies the following information: “Cable News Ratings from Imus’ last day until Friday. Fox & Friends: + 30%. American Morning: + 26%. Robin & Co. + 45%. Morning Joe: – 68%. Let me say it again. a loss of 68%. Minus 68%. I.E., two-thirds of the audience. A 68% loss. Even Mika trying to light the MSNBC building on fire in tribute to Al Sharpton’s 1995 Harlem demonstration won’t improve the MINUS 68% STATUS AT MSNBC. How is Brian Williams doing? More to be revealed.”

The Cable News ratings tell a very dramatic story. A 68% loss in audience is total self-destruction, a catastrophe beyond any recoverable levels. This is what happens when Corporate America listens to a loud, uninformed segment of the population and makes decisions based on panic rather than sound, loyal thinking. Despite MSNBC’s attempts to spin the story to make themselves and CBS Radio look like heroes, they simply come out looking like the rats they truly are.

What Goes Around Comes Around May 4, 2007

Another week in the books and there are paybacks galore combined with lots of other interesting news. So we take a moment to reflect and hand out the jeers and cheers where they are most deserved.

Bush, No Child Left Behind and Killing Education

George W. Bush visited a very effective charter school in the New York City neighborhood called Harlem last week. Georgie would like to have everyone believe that it was his NCLB legislation that magically transformed education in Harlem into a state-of-the-art model for educators everywhere.

Frankly, Mr. Bush, you are full of s**t.

First, the Harlem Village Academy Charter School should be very proud. The entire community has made a strong commitment to success through learning. From uniforms to well-organized classrooms to highly respectful students, the teachers and administration have made their impact. Using a longer day and assessment that drives the curriculum, they have raised student achievement through methods that all educators have been endorsing for years. Assessment that drives teaching is a far cry from the standardized testing mandated by NCLB (which is just a measure of test-taking, not learning or knowledge).

Imus Sacrificed for Hillary’s Presidency April 16, 2007

In the wake of the Imus termination last week, polls are starting to indicate that that Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have all achieved the true objective of their witch hunt against Don Imus. The country, according to at least three different polls, is split almost right down the middle in their sentiments about the Imus firing. Racial tensions have been manipulated and exacerbated to achieve a massive polarization against middle-of-the-road politics, an uncomfortable scenario ideally suited for highly liberalized players like Eenie, Meanie, Miney and Moe as mentioned above.

The most interesting statistic in an ABC poll is that the only population segment that was decidedly in favor of the Imus firing was black women (70% favored firing). The ONLY reason this statistic is interesting is because this group is far and above the smallest audience segment of Imus’ audience; therefore, they have no familiarity with the embattled radio host other than what a biased media has presented to them.

The news media, particularly CBS in trying to cover its footsteps, continues to disseminate disinformation, spin and twisted documentation to support the firing. It is important that we continue to focus on the true facts.