Imus Struggling to Retain Sway as a Franchise

IMUS STRUGGLING TO RETAIN SWAY AS A FRANCHISE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
That Don Imus can be abrasive and offensive is undeniable, but he is also one of the most successful and influential pitchmen in the history of radio, if not broadcasting. His program generates in excess of $20 million in annual revenue for CBS Radio, his primary employer, and his flagship New York station, WFAN. When advertising revenue for affiliates and MSNBC, which simulcasts the program, is included, the figure exceeds $50 million. But yesterday, the third day Mr. Imus spent asking for forgiveness for a racially disparaging remark about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, he demonstrated that the brand he was having the hardest time selling was his own. As CNN broadcast pictures of the players arrayed on a stage behind their coach, their faces long and at times streaked with tears, several prominent advertisers announced plans to distance themselves from the talk show host. In the wake of the firestorm over his remark, Mr. Imus has pledged to purge the most offensive humor from his program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/business/media/11imus.html?ref=todayspaper

* Imus flap a matter of black, white and green
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070411/1a_cover11_dom.art.htm

* Don Imus, Suspended, Still Talking
Don Imus was suspended. But it looked as though NBC had suspended the suspension. This scandal-harried radio host and MSNBC star was free to appear on “Today” yesterday and explain himself again and again: His interview with Matt Lauer and his debate with the Rev. Al Sharpton, their second, were shown simultaneously on the MSNBC show “Imus in the Morning.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/arts/television/11watc.html
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* Advertisers Pull Out of Imus Show
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041000656.html

* Imus's Enablers
Why do all those prominent journalists and politicians go on his show knowing that they will be featured along with degrading and allegedly humorous one-liners about blacks, gays, Jews and women?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117625954738765969.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

* No One to Talk To?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001861.html

* Don Imus: the good-natured racist
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rice11apr11,1,3170155.story?coll=la-news-comment