WRKO to audition Imus's ousted cohort

Ex-Imus sidekick Bernard McGuirk, who first used the word "ho" in the exchange that started the public outcry that drove Don Imus off the air, will audition live in Boston next week to be Tom Finneran's talk show co host.

McGuirk is the latest in a string of Finneran guests as WRKO-AM searches for a co host to liven up the former Massachusetts House speaker's show. WRKO has fallen in the morning drive rankings in the Boston market this past winter, according to research firm Arbitron.

"This is show business -- it's about personality and it's about entertainment and there's no question in my mind, Bernard has an incredible personality," said Jason Wolfe , vice president of AM programming and operations for WRKO and WEEI. "He's entertaining, very witty; that, in combination with the intelligence-slash-wit of Finneran, could be interesting."

"Finneran's Forum," which tackles news and politics for four hours each morning, has gotten mixed reviews since its debut in February.

Finneran said he is looking for ward to testing his rapport with McGuirk on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week -- though he says the offending word will definitely be off-limits. McGuirk, who began working on "Imus in the Morning" in 1987 as producer, is known to listeners for his witty and sometimes offensive banter with Imus.

"I'm determined to make sure the show is entertaining, and Bernard's record is pretty clear. He's a talented guy," said Finneran.

Finneran became a radio show talk host after he was forced out as president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council in January. Finneran left after he pleaded guilty to federal obstruction of justice charges in connection with testimony he provided during a redistricting lawsuit while he was in the Legislature.

McGuirk started the exchange that led to Imus's downfall when he called the Rutgers women's basketball team "hard-core hos." Imus responded with words -- "nappy-headed hos" -- that incited an outcry from advocates for minorities, media pundits, and big brand advertisers. McGuirk, whom CBS radio fired along with Imus, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Some radio watchers said they thought the incident would be a setback -- but not the end to Imus and McGuirk's careers. McGuirk was in Boston earlier this month as a guest on Jay Severin's show on WTKK -- the station that carried Imus before he was taken off the air.

Heidi Raphael, spokeswoman for Greater Media Inc., which owns the station, said that was a one-time appearance.

"He was on as a guest, and that was it. It was not an audition," she said.

Other radio hosts who have gotten in trouble over offensive remarks or routines have made comebacks: Shock jock duo Opie and Anthony, for instance, were taken off the air in 2002 after airing a live account of a couple allegedly having sex in a church, only to be reinstated on XM Satellite radio in 2004. But old habits appear to die hard: This week they were suspended for 30 days for making crude sexual comments on air.

In November, WRKO host John DePetro and his engineer were fired after DePetro referred to gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross as "a fat lesbian." DePetro now works at Providence station WPRO-AM.

Some media watchers responded critically when told that McGuirk would be on air next week on "Finneran's Forum."

"It's really a shame that Imus's enabler is getting a shot at being a local host in Boston, and I really hope it doesn't pan out," said Dan Kennedy, who teaches journalism at Northeastern University. "I know that Finneran's ratings have been pretty poor, but I don't think that's the way to goose it up."

Lou Ureneck , chair of the journalism department at Boston University, said that bringing the radio personality to Boston would pollute the airwaves. "I would hate to see that kind of vulgar speech find its way into the Boston market; it coarsens public discourse, it adds no cultural value, period," he said.

Wolfe, of WRKO and WEEI, said McGuirk's try out was not an attempt to push up ratings.

Finneran has been gaining listeners in the critical 25-to-54-year-old bracket with 42,600 listeners in March, up from 39,100 in February, the month he started.

But WRKO's overall morning drive time slot has slipped against the competition, falling to ninth in the January-March time slot this year from seventh last year, according to research firm Arbitron.

The station has been searching for a suitable co host since Finneran's show began to air in February, Wolfe said, and McGuirk represented "an interesting opportunity."

"What happened happened. It's in the past," Wolfe said. "It doesn't diminish the fact that he's exceptionally talented; he's had a stellar career."

Imus fan and Finneran listener Philip Johnston, former head of the Democratic party in Massachusetts, was surprised to learn that McGuirk would be willing to consider a local show in Boston after so many years with a national audience, but called McGuirk a brilliant radio personality.

"Tom Finneran would be lucky to get him," Johnston said. "If he stays within the rules."

Carolyn Y. Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@globe.com.