Don Imus: Why he's an improbably good fit for Fox Business
As symbols go, you can't do much better than Glenn Beck welcoming Don Imus into the fold. Beck was a guest on Monday's edition of Imus in the Morning, the first simulcast on News Corp. (NWS)'s Fox Business Network under a new multiyear deal. The two talked a lot about their battles with alcoholism, which is to say they talked about redemption. Subtext, anyone?Imus, of course, is on Fox Business precisely because he's not on General Electric Co. (GE)'s MSNBC, which carried his simulcast until 2007, when it dropped him after he referred on-air to a group of black female basketball players as "nappy-headed hos," sparking fierce protests. Beck is on Fox News Channel despite the protesters who've been calling for his head ever since he called President Obama a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people."
In other words, the two have some experiences in common. And that's not all. Imus may be "more liberal than ... conservative," as he describes himself to Howard Kurtz, but he's a good ideological fit with the Fox organization, in that he lives to tweak politically correct sensibilities and harbors weird, illogical pet obsessions. Fox has ACORN and Rev. Wright; Imus has natural health and the supposed link between autism and vaccines. (He tells Kurtz he's treating his prostate cancer not with radiation or chemotherapy but with a diet heavy in sauerkraut and hot peppers -- this from a man nationally famous for his work with pediatric cancer patients.)
Whether Imus's peculiar potpourri of politics, sports and "other" appeals to business-news viewers is an open question -- but it also may be beside the point. If Fox Business had already had a large core audience in the morning, it wouldn't have hired Imus in the first place. "While it gets away from the core intention of the network, they probably feel it's worth the gamble," says Brad Adgate, director of research at Horizon Media. "I think they expected to have better audience deliver at this stage. This will serve as good promotion. [Imus] will bring a loyal following of viewers with him, like he did at MSNBC."
And it's not as if other networks ever go off-message to get viewers. ESPN, Adgate notes, once featured business programming in the morning, while CNBC, FBN's much bigger rival, has recently taken to airing episodes of A&E's Biography in prime time.
D-Day for Harry Reid: Can he wrangle 60 votes for Senate health reform bill?
Fed stalls on Chinese bank deal, costs taxpayers $1.7 billion
Dell in a handbasket: Should founder Michael Dell resign?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 15)
10-05-2009 @ 6:17PM
john said...
In my opinion, this guy is a jackass. What the hell does he know about business! This whole thing disgusts me.
Reply
10-06-2009 @ 7:30PM
ed said...
You ask if Imus knows anything about business. Well, he's made millions in doing business. I'd say he knows a heck of a lot more than you.
10-05-2009 @ 8:35PM
Richard said...
You are absolutely right; Imus is a bit of a fool. All the more reason Fox would hire him. Just look at the rest of its lineup!
10-05-2009 @ 9:21PM
Uncledickierc said...
Then don't watch or listen to him.
10-05-2009 @ 10:48PM
DGoldman said...
Good for you John, you and that OTHER PIECE OF HUMAN WASTE, AL ROKER CAN GO OFF AND QUEER YOURSELVES UNTIL YOU PASS OUT!! Now, for the rest of you that are INTELLIGENT can rejoice that some REAL TALENT is back, someone who DOES MORE FOR SOCIETY IN ONE DAY than most other people do in their lives, the "I-man". I'm quite happy. Now, if only they will wise up and get rid of that BACK STABBING PIECE OF GARBAGE, AL ROKER, and all will be well.
10-05-2009 @ 11:21PM
D. Brooks said...
Never flown, never landed. You are are a land luber, an idiot. You have absolutely no say.......
10-05-2009 @ 11:50PM
Randy said...
Let's see here, how many millions is Imus worth?,he must not know too much about money or he'd be dead broke like Obama! Look at Obama he went to Harvard and he's not even CLOSE to being worth as much as Imus.I'm not really a fan of Imus but even AFTER he appologized to the women's Basketball players the nations BLACK population REFUSED TO EXCEPT IT !!! But the entire population has already forgiven that THING that STOLE the Microphone right out of Tyler Swift's hand. that one should nave been walked out behind the building and shot For what he did to that teenage girl
10-06-2009 @ 12:35AM
Peter Zulinke said...
Everyone knows that Fox is a Republican network, and this proves it! This guy should never be allowed on any TV, any time, anywhere!
10-06-2009 @ 5:34AM
Lisa said...
Come on now. He did his time, everyone deserves another chance. You let an evil man play for the Eagles why can't this guy talk on the radio?
10-06-2009 @ 9:05AM
Austin said...
Randy...trying to compare a radio talk show host to the leader of the free world is beyond absurd. You know why Imus is so rich and Obama isn't? Because Obama used his law degree to take low-paying positions with groups that do work like helping unemployed people find jobs. Then he became a state senator, a US senator and then President of the US. Money is not the only marker of success. I'm not going to begrudge someone doing charitable work rather than greedily seeking millions, like Rush Limbaugh and the other talk show hosts.
10-17-2009 @ 10:40AM
Betty Haase said...
Aw! Shut up
10-05-2009 @ 7:03PM
dodacrazy said...
Does this mean the topic is about mule business.How cool something different then things that disgusts me......high outhouse lol.
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 8:06PM
Dan said...
Its about damn time. This guy is a legend and what he had done for terminally sick children. Screw Al Sharpton and he should be the one banned from TV.
Rock on Imus.
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 8:06PM
nherent said...
The guy's a cantankerous prick, but I like him anyway.
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 8:10PM
GEE said...
DON CALL A SPADE A SPADE
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 9:26PM
odasan said...
Gee--you idiot jerk racist--that walking cadaver got his bony ass kicked off TV for being a racist --calling young black women "nappy headed hos." At last he is where he belongs--along with all the stinking Fox racists, egging on stupid people like you who have maggots in their brains.
Imus, Beck and Limbaugh--drunks and druggies laughing all the way to the bank playing to the fear of stupid people like you. (And you should be afraid, white people are a soon to be the minority).
SEVEN MORE YEARS!!!!!
10-07-2009 @ 8:15AM
Therealmcgunnar said...
Jack ass only full blooded white people will be the minority in the United States, that means full blooded Black people will also become almost extinct, Leaving the true Mixed race Americans to rule talk about a melting pot, even your "first Black President" is a Mixed breeded American bye bye purebreds your era is fading away
10-06-2009 @ 2:52AM
Robert McAdams said...
I used to like Imus,,he's a bright guy,,witty sometimes funny,A straight shooter as it were.But personaly ,I think Fox news will get even more bad (press),and heat from the left,,He didn't even start his job yet,,He was being interviewed by Neil Cavullo and he makes a dumb ass remark about Sarah Palin's book,,says
she can't even read,Hey 'IMUS' her book is already number one on amazon just from pre orders,,and got a $7,000,000.oo advance,,he could not even shine the bottom of her shoes,Sure him and his wife,,how she puts up with him is beyond me,,,do a lot of great things for kids,on his ranch,,But he should lighten upAny credibility he ever had is long gone,especially with re marks like that,Hey IMUS,Sarah is one of the good guys,why don't you bad mouth assholes like Genine Gararfullo..I don't see him lasting very long on Fox news,Thats all I have to say about him,Bobby
10-05-2009 @ 8:37PM
Brian Wells said...
I have no idea why Imus would be on business TV. If this is just entertainment hour, then I am off to find another business station. I think that this is the wrong format for Fox Business.
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 11:45PM
Lita said...
I believe he is on business TV to sell his upcoming line men's beauty products. He is his own number one client. Attractive, yes?