After sticking my neck out on the Imus issue, it feels good to be vindicated this morning. His debut has been widely panned, even by supporters.
Here's what I told a NYC reporter last week, during a time when the Talkers Magazine crowd was busy sucking up to Imus all over the place:
Imus' new bosses at WABC promise that drive-time listeners will get the I-Man of old."I don't think he will change his personality," said Phil Boyce, vice-president of programming for the station. "He's smarter than that. I told him to get in there and do great radio and don't be afraid to do the kind of radio you feel like doing."
But Brian Maloney, who runs the industry blog, "The Radio Equalizer," doesn't see that happening.
"He won't be within 10 miles of controversy," he said. "He's going to turn it into dullsville public affairs programming and have him stick with fluffy interviews. I'm sorry, but younger audiences just aren't into boring radio."
