Or arguably, depending on the disputed dates, he was inspired by Bey (simply because "The Richard Bey Show" was a combo of "People are Talking" - originally on lame WCBS, in New York/Brooklyn but got popular once it moved to WWOR
and personality - and "9 Broadcast Plaza"; so either he came before "Downey" or at the same time).
The more I see this show the more it's hard to hate Downey. The way I see it, as rude and blunt as he can be, Downey is more like Dante in "Clerks," he's un-PC, but you never really sense he's truly mean or a "Friends" fan. He just hates hard because he loves hard.
Plus proof that UPN was hard-hitting and more popular.
This was truly a good show. The main difference between him and "Bey," is there was a decorum about this show. Whereas on "Bey" it was, "Anything goes." See the classic episodes on Youtube.