[BC] Imus Firing

[Rich Wood]

------ At 02:30 PM 4/14/2007, Xmitters at aol.com wrote: -------

>I'm interested in knowing if the advertisers pulled out just to let things
>cool down or if they pulled out because they don't want their name associated
>with the Imus comments. If you or Rich know the answer, I'm interested in
>knowing.

Mainstream advertisers like Proctor and Gamble sell products to all 
sectors of society. They don't sell Black soap, Gay soap, Catholic 
soap. This is nothing new. As I've said before, at ABC we had a list 
of shows these kinds of advertisers did not want their out-of-program 
spots to air in. I'm amazed that mainstream advertisers bought Imus 
in the first place. Perhaps it was because of his political 
connections seeming to overshadow the bigotry in the rest of the 
show. Look through the archives. I predicted advertisers would bail 
and I predicted he'd be fired. I suspect a few media buyers at 
agencies got a good talking-to because they bought the show. Those 
same advertisers wouldn't get caught dead on Howard Stern.

These advertisers are wimps. Let any Talk personality make a slip of 
the tongue and they cancel or suspend their schedules. All a 
corporate CEO needs to hear is "Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are 
waiting in the lobby" and his next call is to his cardiologist who 
recommends his next call be to 911. One of the pundits called them 
domestic terrorists.

I honestly believe we'll discover the demos were old, the host is old 
and CBS grabbed the opportunity to find something easier to sell. 
That means younger. I have no idea what younger talent can duplicate 
the success of Imus over the years. To do so, he or she will have to 
be much more offensive than Imus could ever imagine. In a landscape 
that's littered with talent fired for "inappropriate" behavior after 
being hired to be inappropriate we're going to see more of the same. 
It happened to Greasman and Opie and Anthony, among others. I 
sometimes think those who hired them should be fired at the same time 
they fire the talent rather than being lauded as good corporate 
citizens for getting rid those they enabled.

Over the past 20 years or so radio has feasted on hate in one form or 
another. Rap is filled with it. Talk Radio is filled with it. The 
most successful shows/stations deal in it. I have a feeling we've got 
a tough time ahead as more and more cultural guardians come out of 
the woodwork. The most effective way to get your way if you're 
offended and have some political/cultural clout is to go to the 
advertisers. Gay people did it and nearly destroyed Laura 
Schlessinger over her anti-gay comments. Michael Savage is rabidly 
anti-gay and threatened to sue the organizations who targeted his 
advertisers, inaccurately claiming violation of free speech. 
Unfortunately for immigrants, they have little clout and can't affect 
Savage they way Gay people did.

 From a pure business standpoint, pulling out of a controversy seems 
counter-productive. Ratings generally go up. Advertisers reach more 
people. One of the classic examples is Snapple. Rush Limbaugh made 
Snapple a national brand simply by saying he liked the product. 
Snapple wasn't even a sponsor of the show at the time. The company 
was hard pressed to increase production to cover the country when 
listeners began requesting the product. Then Quaker bought them and 
cancelled their spots on Limbaugh. They also dropped Wendy, the 
Snapple lady and dumped Howard Stern. Sales dropped to the point 
where there was talk of bankrupting the brand. Instead, in May of 
1997 Quaker Oats decided to take a $1.4 billion bath and sell Snapple 
to Triarc Beverage Group for $300 million. Sometimes bigger isn't 
better. Quaker didn't understand the market and the history of the 
Snapple brand.

Everyone involved in this is walking a tightrope. Let's all listen to 
hate-based stations to see if it gets a little more moderate, at 
least until this blows over. Personalities will be tapdancing through 
minefields.

Rich