On Apr 9, 12:07 pm, "David Eduardo" wrote:
"Roadie" wrote in message

ups.com...





On Apr 9, 11:42 am, "ve3..." wrote:
I watched Imus this morning until 8:00 and he was quite rattled at
times. He apologised profusely for his comments about the Rutgers team
and indicated that his show would be more politically correct for the
"next 4 or 5 years".
He had spent much of the weekend consulting with Al Sharpton and
the head of the First Baptist Church and they both agreed that he was
fundamentally a "good person" who made a "stupid mistake" but they
both felt he should resign anyway.
His guests were supportive and I think the New York Times article
(previous post) got it right.
He said he would be on Al Sharpton's radio program and network at
1 pm eastern time today. For those not near a station, Sharpton can
be heard at sharptalk.net.
Al Sharpton was booked on Tuesday's show.
The story is still unfolding but if Imus survives, it will be with
a much tamer show. I think another pressure comes from the lawyers.
Imus may be afraid of having the pants sued off him. Stay tuned.

Yes, I heard bits of that rambling apology on the local news. I think
he was taken to the woodshed over the weekend and told to clean it
up. The last thing they need is some group threatening a boycott and
then an FCC inquiry and a fine. I'm sure the Howard Stern record for
fines is big in their minds. This may be what pushes Imus and his
characters completely away from FCC regulated radio over to satellite
radio.

The FCC has never, to the best of my knowlege, fined for anything other than
indecency (descriptions that appeal to the prurient interest of sexual or
excretory acts) or profanity (the F-word, for example...). It would take
defining racist or politically incorrect speech as one of these to make it
"finable" and would undoubtably bring First Ammendment issues galore.

A boycott and a protest of the owners of the flagship station and its
affiliates and their advertisers is the real threat, not the FCC.

Stern was not finded for political or racial content... it was for
indecency.

Satellite is not content regulated, but the possibility of a boycott of a
satellite company or of their advertisers or resellers is possible.

Yes, a boycott is indeed possible. If a boycott were only moderately
successful it could push one or both money-losing satellite companies
even further into the hole.

As satellite radio continues to push the bounds of good taste and
decency outward I think they increasingly invite a congressional
reaction that would place the content of satellite broadcasts under
FCC regulation. It is clear that broadcasts carried over traditional
AM and FM stations are more similar than they are different from
broadcasts carried over satellites.

I suspect that if the FCC hinted that they were beginning an
investigation that the station owners owners would become very
concerned. And Imus would be jettisoned.