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Station subs Imus with shock jock
WWSC picks "Mancow" Muller, who offers Howard-Stern-like antics  
  
By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer
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First published: Friday, June 29, 2007

GLENS FALLS -- Bye-bye, Imus. Hello, Mancow.
  
It's been two months since radio host Don Imus lost his job for racist and sexist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Now, one of the stations that aired the Imus show, WWSC (1450 AM) in Glens Falls, has decided his replacement will be Erich "Mancow" Muller, one of the nation's most controversial shock jocks.

WWSC on Monday began airing Mancow Muller's syndicated radio program, "Mancow's Morning Madhouse," making it the only station in New York state to carry the show and bringing the region a type of radio not heard since Howard Stern departed for satellite radio.

Like Stern, Mancow has a reputation for antics and comments that make Imus seem tame and staid. For example, Mancow once decided to cover a co-host in blood, scatter bullet casings around a parking lot and report the supposed "murder" to police.

And a New York Times review of talk radio in May cited Mancow as an example of the "kind of crude remarks, off-color bits and unfiltered rage" that could still be found on airwaves after Imus was fired.

WWSC general manager Clay Ashworth conceded he had some initial concern about bringing Mancow to the area. But he listened to the show and concluded Mancow's reputation was overstated.

"He was a lot worse (in the past) than he is today," Ashworth said. "He's cleaned up his act."

Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a Springfield, Mass.-based talk-radio industry magazine, agreed, saying Mancow is careful not to upset advertisers and the Federal Communications Commission.

That has many stations nationally replacing Imus with Mancow, Harrison said, especially as Mancow, like Imus, likes to talk politics and topical issues.

"Mancow is as close to being an Imus-type as you can get, but he's young," Harrison added. "He's very aware of the business pressures and he's tried to tone down his being a bad boy."

Nevertheless, WWSC's Ashworth said not everyone will appreciate Mancow's humor.

"For Glens Falls, New York, is there going to be some stuff that some people will consider shocking?" he asked. "Yeah, absolutely."

Ashworth said WWSC, with a signal that can be heard from Saratoga Springs to Warrensburg, has not been promoting "Mancow's Morning Madness" but will begin doing so soon.

I have only listened to Mancow a few times. Certainly not enough to make a solid opinion. But the few times I did listen to him....I wasn't impressed! But then again, I wasn't impressed with Imus either.