Don Imus — whose Imus in the Morning radio show is simulcast on FBN — is profiled (subscription required) by Crain’s New York Business reporter Matthew Flamm, who writes that “more than two years after his return to radio on WABC-AM, Mr. Imus is finally getting some traction.”
Cited are Arbitron ratings that show a growth in male 25-54 listeners, and an overall 11th-place ranking among New York radio shows targeted to male listeners.
But on FBN — “not yet a fully distributed cable network” — Flamm writes that Imus’ total viewership is down from what it was on MSNBC: 108,000 vs. 346,000 from January-March 14 (from Nielsen Marketbreaks).
“He’s sort of disappeared,” Journal-isms columnist Richard Prince tells Flamm. “People are concerned now about Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.”
Beck, though, counts himself a fan. “Who in radio has had a career like his?”
Imus himself weighs in, telling Flamm that he stands out from the recent wave of radio hosts. “I’ve never seen the show as an opinion show…Our job is to monitor the freak parade. Whether it’s Glenn Beck this week, or whoever, we watch them go by and we talk about them.”