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The very liberal Phil Donahue's comeback to MSNBC was just plain painful. It bombed so badly, old Phil got his walking papers only months after the program's debut. Now, the cable network has decided to do a 180 degree turn and the “MS” in MSNBC will stand for "Michael Savage".

The bristly and controversial talk-show host recently began a television version of his highly successful “Savage Nation” syndicated Radio program on MSNBC. In just a few weeks, the conservative and outspoken Savage has provoked the wrath of at least one special interest group and managed to send some advertisers running. Not since Opie and Anthony has a Radio Personality caused so much trouble.

This is about the best thing that could have happened to MSNBC.

From a solely programming stance, anytime a personality can generate this much controversy, you must be doing something right. Nice guys may finish last but in America “bad boys” don’t: Mike Tyson, Tonya Harding, Danny Bonaduce, Joey Buttafucco, Heidi Fleiss, Howard Stern, Mancow - make the list as long as you like and add Michael Savage if you like.

We love scandal, outrageousness and anything out of the ordinary that titillates us. To deny this is to deny the essence of what entertains us today. But not everyone is happy about this.

Andrew Orlowski from the theregister.co.uk writes, “A hate-radio shockjock whose toilet rants have proved too deranged even for readers of the extreme right-wing Free Republic has received a massive career boost thanks to... [MSNBC]” Orlowski claims Savage “...fills his hate-radio slot with vile homophobic and racist diatribes against gays and brown-skinned people - or any flavor of “commies pinkos and perverts”...”

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) lobbied six of Savage’s national sponsors to pressure them to withdraw their advertising. It worked. The Boston Globe reports “Procter & Gamble, Dell Computer, Casual Male, Idea Village, Cole Media Group, and Sharper Image” all pulled their ads.

365gay.com says Proctor and Gamble went so far as to apologize for one ad that ran on the premier of the show, “Savage Nation”. The company claims that an ad for “Swifer”, a damp mop that’s disposable, aired by mistake and went running for the hills, corporately blushing, after somebody showed them transcripts of the show.

Being in the Radio business, my perspective on a subject like this is colored slightly differently. I remove some of the emotion because this is still a job and Radio personalities, whether on Radio or TV, do what they do because this is how they make their living. No one is forced to listen to them or even watch them. Eveyone is entitled to have their opinion on them.

But, each radio in existence still comes with an ON and OFF button and you - not them - are ultimately in control of that. Freedom of speech also implies the freedom to listen - or not. Would you really want it any other way?

Michael Savage can be seen on MSNBC, Sundays, 5-6 p.m. ET

- Corey Deitz

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