The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2007
CBS fired Don Imus four days after his advertisers fled
One remark about a college basketball team emptied his sponsor roster in a day; CBS Radio fired its star morning host four days later.
CBS Radio · General Motors · Procter & Gamble · Staples · Don Imus (radio host) · 2007-04-12
What happened
On April 4, 2007 — the morning after Rutgers' NCAA women's basketball championship game — Don Imus, CBS Radio's highest-rated morning host, called the team "nappy-headed hos" on air. The show was syndicated nationally and simulcast on MSNBC.
A week later the advertisers left. On Wednesday, April 11, General Motors, American Express, Sprint Nextel, TD Waterhouse and GlaxoSmithKline exited, joining Staples, Procter & Gamble and Bigelow Tea in pulling their spots. GM said it would continue to monitor the situation, and MSNBC cancelled the TV simulcast the same day.
On Thursday, April 12, CBS Radio fired him: "Effective immediately, CBS will no longer broadcast or distribute his program." CEO Leslie Moonves: "There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society."
Why it happened
- The remark named a specific team of students, not a general audience, which made every advertiser's continued buy indefensible that week.
- The sponsors moved first, and the network followed the money four days later — the exodus was the public record of why.
- "Effective immediately, CBS will no longer broadcast or distribute his program" — the language of closing a liability, not of parting with a star.
The lesson
A morning show's revenue is a portfolio of daily ad buys, and each buyer can leave on its own — one remark emptied the roster in a day, and the network fired its star four days after the money left.
Aftermath
MSNBC had dropped the TV simulcast the day before the firing, and the show's national syndication was cancelled outright. The episode became the reference point for advertiser exodus in American radio for years afterward. Imus died in December 2019.
Sources
- CBS News — CBS Fires Don Imus Over Racial Slur, 12 Apr 2007 (Moonves statement; "no longer broadcast or distribute his program")
- NPR — CBS Radio Fires Don Imus in Fallout Over Remarks, 12 Apr 2007 (sponsors including GM, Staples and P&G withdrew)
- Forbes — Don Imus' Sponsors Abandon Him, 11 Apr 2007 (GM pulling; Staples; P&G; Bigelow Tea)
- Variety — MSNBC Kicks Imus Off the Air, 11 Apr 2007 (five top advertisers exited Wednesday: GM, American Express, Sprint Nextel, TD Waterhouse, GlaxoSmithKline)
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