More on the Imus in the
Morning firing from gd.com:
-
Phony Network Brass Fire Imus Friday, April 13, 2007
- Shame on Sharpton
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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Review: Imus Moves to New Studio
Review of move to new MSNBC studio
SALINE, MICHIGAN FEBRUARY 20, 2005
Two weeks ago Don Imus moved his Imus in the morning show from
the WFAN studio in Astoria, Queens, to inside the MSNBC war room in
Secaucus, NJ. He only brought along one of his morning crew - long
time partner and Imus in the Morning newsman Charles McCord.
The spacious, upbeat feel to the MSNBC digs is a
welcome change from the dreary confines of the old WFAN studio.
It takes a little getting used to, but two weeks in, fans and Imus
himself feel that this is a winner.
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The crew at MSNBC has been broadcasting the
Imus in the Morning radio show for several years now and the move was a
brilliant one for the cable news channel. The strength Imus
brings to MSNBC is three-fold:
1. Imus in the Morning pulls a strong rating number
in a slot where cable news is typically soundly beaten by the
dreadful network shows (NBC's Today and ABC's Good
Morning America).
2. The show provides an excellent platform and lead
in for other
NBC and MSNBC shows and talent, including Chris Matthews and Tim Russert.
3. Finally, in a point that Imus continually reminds
viewers, the demographic that watches and listens to the show is an
affluent group, supposedly causing advertisers to pony up a premium
for air time.
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While newsman McCord joined
Imus in the new studio, the other talent that surrounded Imus in the
WFAN 660 studio remain withiin the tired confines. This group
includes irreverent newsman Sid Rosenberg and the talented
executive producer of the show, Bernhard McGuirk.
The separation of the crew is
obviously not an issue with radio listeners, but the MSNBC crew had
to come up with a way to not only keep the interaction between the
Imus team believable, but also had to keep the chemistry of the crew
together.
They discovered separating
the crew would work on TV a couple years ago when Imus left to tend
to his Imus Ranch for ill children in New Mexico, yet continued to
conduct his show from a studio on the ranch. The entire Imus
team remained in the WFAN studio. They've managed to configure
a series of cameras and screens in each studio to make it work.
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The only other change to the
show since the move to MSNBC studio is the insertion of a news bunny
to "share" some of Charles McCord's news update. To date this
has been the drop dead hot MSNBC news host Amy Robach.
Other than eye candy, it is
not clear why MSNBC decided to have her share the news updates with
McCord. And Charles doesn't appear to be thrilled with the
idea of splitting his duties with her.
It is unclear whether Robach
is excited with her new job either: she has already been the target
of sexual innuendo from the sleazy Rosenberg, who last week asked
Amy of her opinion on lesbianism. Robach was not on the set
the next 2 shows. In Amy Robach's place last week was bad girl
and MSNBC newswoman Contessa Brewer.
Where does this go from here?
Well, it is hoped that the new studio will attract more in studio
guests, although current the line up political players and pundits
and other media stars is unsurpassed in radio or television.
And although the curmudgeonly Imus admits he's warmed up to the new
studio (although claims he can't get a decent cup of coffee), he'll
no doubt start to bitch about it or something within it. One
potential annoyance for the I-man: all the people milling about
inside the MSBNC newsroom and studio. Someone's bound to catch
the ire of the grumpy Imus. Just wait.
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