MSNBC Rattled by Imus on FBN?

The New York Post's Page Six column certainly seems to think that MSNBC has been rattled by the return of Imus.  They are reporting infact that Joe Scarborough, who's show is scheduled up against Imus, is under 'intense' pressure to perform and keep his ratings up.  A source told Page Six: "Those higher up at MSNBC are unnerved by Imus' move to Fox Business Network and fear his show could push Scarborough down. They're putting a lot of pressure on Joe to keep the ratings up. To make things worse, there are multiple scores to be settled."

MSNBC executives are said to be nervously watching the ratings following Imus' return to the cable news airwaves.  Page Six also reports the rivalry between the respective programme producers, noting that Tom Bowman, Imus' producer at MSNBC, has jumped over to Fox Business in order to produce the shock jock's show there.  Scarborough's show is now produced by Chris Licht, who appear to both be out with the intention of winning in the ratings.

Page Six also wrote; "Scarborough and his team are keen to play down the rivalry with Imus, and Scarborough has been busy focusing his fire at Fox News' host Glenn Beck. A source close to Scarborough told us, "Imus is not even on our radar. Joe is too busy concentrating on what he is doing,"

An MSNBC spokeswoman said Imus' show "has had no impact on 'Morning Joe' ratings or guest bookings." Fox Business Network and a rep for Imus declined to comment."