Imus + Howie Carr in the Boston Globe
Sean
By Alex Beam, Globe Columnist, 06/04/99
Don Imus, who was briefly the toast of Boston's
morning
drive-time radio, now has ratings so low they could
walk
under a rattlesnake with a top hat on.
The I-man, laughably dubbed one of ''the 25 most
influential
Americans'' by Time magazine in 1997, took a huge hit
when
Howard Stern started broadcasting mornings here two
years
ago. In his key demographic, men between the ages of 25
and
54, Imus's market share declined from 8.4 to 6.6 from
winter
to spring of 1997. Now it's even lower. The latest
Arbitron
numbers show Imus off 31 percent among men (4.7 share)
from the previous quarter and 58 percent among women,
meaning that his two remaining female listeners must be
Cokie
Roberts and Anna Quindlen, whose work he continually
promotes. Stern's own ratings have been declining here,
although he remains No. 1 in the morning slot.
Imus didn't answer my respectfully worded fax seeking
comment on his ''ankle-high'' ratings. But 'EEI program
director Jason Wolfe rose to the defense - sort of - of
the
I-rrelevant man. Wolfe invoked Stern: ''Howard takes
younger
listeners away from everybody and dominates that slot
around the country. Imus's core audience is older
now.'' In
fact, Wolfe says, Imus's ratings are holding steady in
a
narrower, older demographic: men aged 35-54. Asked
about
friction between 'EEI's successful sports show hosts
and the
lagging Imus, Wolfe deflected the question
diplomatically.
Imus's contract is up for renewal later this year, and
'EEI will
undoubtedly use the subterranean ratings as a
bargaining tool.
Another radio favorite of yesteryear - Howie Carr - has
ratings problems of his own. Carr's WRKO afternoon
drive
show has plummeted 42 percent in age 25-54 market-share
rankings from a year ago. But at least Carr and his
bosses
have some creative excuses. Arbitron added new
listeners
from Worcester and southern New Hampshire to its survey
base, which had an especially negative impact on the
Boston-y Carr, says his program director, Kevin
Straley.
'RKO officials also attribute their dismal winter
numbers to
early nighttime meteorological conditions. ''After
dark, you
can barely hear the station in Wellesley,'' Carr
complains.
Wait, there's more!
A defamation claim by Carr's wife, Katherine, against
the
injudicious I-man has been settled. Here's the
background:
Carr slurred Imus on his show. Retaliating, Imus
slurred
Carr's wife. Oooops! Katherine Carr is (was) a private,
as
opposed to a public, figure. Harvard law prof Alan
Dershowitz agreed to handle the claim, working with
Kenneth
Sweder in the Boston office of Stroock & Stroock &
Lavan.
Carr hinted on his show that his wife was going to come
into
some serious money as a result of the settlement, but
his
lawyers have since told him to keep his trap shut.
Intriguing social note: WRKO, which broadcasts Carr,
and
WEEI, which handles Imus here, are both owned by
Pennsylvania-based Entercom. But Ms. Carr's claim,
which
was settled before it went to court, was directed
against Imus
and his syndicator, CBS Radio.