Imus Fired, Mike Barnicle, WFAN, New York, Boston

SCRATCH THAT IDEA

Infamous Imus Suck-Up Yanked As Fill-In Host







Regardless of how one might have felt about the Imus firing, there was absolutely no way to defend or support CBS Radio / Westwood One's choice to temporarily replace him.

Infamous Imus suck- up and fellow white liberal racist fossil talker Mike Barnicle, also a known plagiarist, was scheduled to take over Imus In The Morning as of Monday.

But later, according to the Boston Herald's Jessica Heslam, Barnicle was scraped right off the side of the boat:

Westwood One, which syndicated the Imus show, has axed plans to offer radio affiliates WTKK’s Mike Barnicle, who was set to fill in for Imus during his initial two-week suspension.

The Herald reported earlier this week that Barnicle was forced to apologize in 2004 for referring to an interracial couple as “mandingo” on his show.

Westwood said in a memo obtained by the Herald that it will instead offer the New York sports radio show “Mike and the Mad Dog” next week. Barnicle will, however, fill in on WTKK.

The New York Times has further details:

Yesterday there was clearly no succession plan in place for Mr. Imus, but for the next two weeks, Mike Francesa and Christopher Russo, who are the co-hosts of the afternoon “Mike and Mad Dog” show on WFAN, will fill in, working from 6 to 10 a.m., tweaking their two-man act to have a slightly more national flavor. After the midday hosts, Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, expand their show to 2 p.m., Mr. Francesa and Mr. Russo will return to the air for the afternoon drive shift, from 2 to 6, which will be cut temporarily from their usual 1 to 6:30 p.m. slot.

Mr. Russo also said the program would be heard on all the stations that received “Imus in the Morning,” except those in Boston and Washington. A Westwood spokeswoman said she could not verify that.

Mike Barnicle, a frequent guest of Mr. Imus and the host of a talk show in Boston, was considered as an interim replacement, “but it didn’t work out,” said Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio.

Aside from Barnicle's sleazy background, he has long struggled as a talk show host, turning in lackluster ratings and refusing to take listener phone calls. Instead, the program is loaded with guests.

At the Radio Equalizer, we've previously chronicled Barnicle's unhinged extremism here and here.

For undoing their ill- considered decision, CBS and Westwood One deserve praise.


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