Don Imus

Since returning to the air December 3, Don Imus has seen many of his regular guests come back to the show.

But one probably won't be returning. During an on-air conversation with the columnist James Brady Wednesday, the Post's Page Six reports, Mr. Imus had these words for the former NBC anchor: "He [Brokaw] is not the most courageous person I've ever met in my life," Imus told his listeners on Wednesday. "He's not the guy I'd want to be in a foxhole with."

That came after Mr. Brokaw said in an interview last week that Mr. Imus "should have been fired" for his comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team last April.

Beloved New York sports anchor Warner Wolf is back on the air and is doing updates on the Imus in the morning program, according to Neil Best at Newsday. He'a also doing some spot work for ESPN Radio.

Of course radio won't allow for his trademark catchphrase: "Let's Go to Video Tape!" Or moments likethis.

Barbara Walters is sick and tired of tabloid journalism. Even though the venerable co-host of The View has been criticized, especially over the last few years, for conducting “soft” interviews with people like Michael Jackson and Monica Lewinsky, she wants to put an end to it here and now. Acknowledging that her stint on 20/20 may have actually spawned the current, frenzied climate of paparazzi-driven celebrity journalism, Ms. Walters said: “We began to do more and more celebrities and we were criticized,” she continued, “And now ... every program does it." But when her annual The 10 Most Fascinating People airs tonight on ABC, the matronly journalist will reportedly look beyond messy stars like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. “I am not going after the tabloid stuff, I don’t do it,” Ms. Walters, 78, said, before adding that she wants no part in the “week in, week out, competition for getting the next name, the next person out of rehab.” Instead of Lindsay Lohan, her viewers can expect to see Bill Clinton, Hugo Chavez, two founders of MySpace and Don Imus.

In an interview with Essence, Karith Foster talks at some length about her decision to sign on as one of Don Imus' new sidekicks.

"My parents were like, 'Is this something you want to do? Is this something you are prepared to do? Is this a person you want to work with?'" said Ms. Foster, a 33-year-old black comedian and Harlem resident.

"Well, I am not here to defend the man," she added. "I am also not paid to be his policeman. I am here to contribute to a historically entertaining show. I have no issue whatsoever speaking up when I feel the need to."  read more »

On the morning of Monday, Dec. 3, Clarence Page, The Chicago Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist, rolled over in bed in suburban Washington, D.C., and looked at his Bose stereo clock radio.

A thought pierced the groggy haze: It was Don Imus’ first day back on the air. Mr. Page, who once got Mr. Imus to join him in an on-air pledge to, among other things, “cease all simian references to black athletes,” and who later in the day would comment to NPR on Mr. Imus’ return, was eager to tune in.  read more »

ABC's Barbara Walters has scored the first on-air interview with Don Imus since Mr. Imus' return to radio and television was announced weeks ago. The interview, already conducted, will air on Thursday night at 10 p.m, as part of an ABC special, The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2007.

"Are we going to have a kinder, gentler Don Imus?" Ms. Walters asks at one point in the interview.

"Well, I don't think so, no," replies Mr. Imus.

And given the host's comments this morning about the vice president and the Democratic presidential frontrunner, he was right.

At 6:33 this morning, Don Imus offered some reassurance: "Dick Cheney is still a war criminal. Hillary Clinton is still Satan. And I'm back on the radio!"

Mr. Imus was indeed back on the radio at 6 a.m. (he himself first spoke at 6:06) on WABC and several other Citadel Radio-owned stations across the nation. His first show was broadcast live—with a 21-second delay—from Town Hall off Times Square to an audience which paid $100 a head and which lined up as early as 4:30 a.m. The money went to Mr. Imus' Imus Ranch for Kids with Cancer.

Eight months earlier, Mr. Imus had disappeared slowly, but still, for fans, abruptly -- offed by a nervous WCBS and MSNBC (which simulcast the show on TV) after referring to the members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." At 6:18 this morning, he addressed that controversy, talking of his meeting with the team back in April, after his firing, as close to a "life-changing experience."

I'd been looking forward to this day since Mr. Imus' return to the air was first announced.  read more »

This morning at 6am, Don Imus kicked off his new morning show on WABC. It didn't take long for him to get back to old business.

"Not much has changed,' said Mr. Imus, roughly thirty minutes into the program. "Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I'm back on the radio!"

via FishbowlDC

In preparation for Don Imus' impending return to radio, Fishbowl DC has made yet another journalistic attempt to figure out which of his high-profile guests will go back on the show if asked. Chris Matthews, Chris Wallace, and Craig Crawford all say yes. Others still seem to be waiting to see how things play out.  read more »

Howard Stern on Don Imus' return to radio:

At this point, I don't think he's very relevant. People will tune out within a week. I defy you to listen. It's like a rodeo - you know, see how long you can ride a bull? See how long you can keep listening to Imus.

Time it. You'll throw up. You'll get sick. You'll die.

The 21-second delay won't be the only thing that's different when Dom Imus returns to the air December 3rd on WABC. According to Bo Dietl, a former NYPD detective and frequent Imus guest, who was speaking on a local cable channel Saturday morning, Mr. Imus will appear with a co-host for the first time in his career. The Post advises Mr. Imus to ape fellow shock-jock Howard Stern by picking an African-American woman.  read more »

On December 3, Don Imus returns to the airwaves with a new show on New York’s WABC AM and simulcast on the RFD-TV cable channel. According to an article today in the New York Daily News, Mr. Imus is now selling tickets for $100 a pop to see his first show broadcast live from Town Hall on West 43rd Street.

The Daily News reports that Mr.  read more »

Many of Don Imus' former guests appear ready to return when his new show debuts on WABC AM on December 3. But what about his former advertisers?

Steve McClellan of Mediaweek recently dug into the question. Along the way he found some former advertisers who said they wouldn’t return to Mr. Imus (Sprint) some who are waiting on the sidelines (General Motors) and some who are committed to getting back in on the action (the Hackensack University Medical Center).

But, according to some industry experts, even with those advertisers who do return, Mr. Imus may not command the same high ad rates that he did before the controversy.

"According to ad agency executives, there will likely be a roster of Imus advertisers if, as expected, his previous audience tunes in to his new program," reported Mediaweek. "But some buyers also say WABC won't be able to command prices anywhere near as high as CBS outlet WFAN did before the host was fired."

"That's the fallout in all this," Dennis McGuire, vice president, regional spot director for Aegis Group's Carat told Mediaweek. "He's being given another chance, but he's not going to command the [price] premiums he once did."

Today, the Rural Media Group officially announced that it has signed a 5-year deal to simulcast Don Imus' new morning show on its RFD-TV network. The move, first reported by The New York Times today, will kick off along with Mr. Imus' WABC AM radio show on December 3, and return Mr. Imus to television roughly six months after MSNBC severed its ties with him.

RFD-TV, which launched in 2000, covers "the needs and interests of rural America," and currently reaches roughly 30 million homes on DirecTV, DISH Network, and several other smaller distributors. The network also plans to rebroadcast the show in primetime from 6 to 9 pm and will make it available for video-on-demand viewing, according to today's press release.

   read more »

Some more comments on Don Imus' return to radio that didn't make it into the print story...

Bob Kerrey, New School president and former U.S. senator, told The Observer he'd go back on the show. "Look he apologized and he paid the price. Did Isiah Thomas apologize yet?"

Democratic political consultant Paul Begala said he'd go back too. "I shoot my mouth off all the time. If there was a death penalty for that I would have lost my job a long time ago … I am Catholic, we forgive the sin when asked to."

Brill's Content founder Steve Brill agreed. "If you think about Imus' show and Imus' appeal for the last four or five years, I think it had almost nothing to do with making comments like that racist comment. I think he can be every bit as provocative without getting into that kind of trouble. For example, he habitually calls Senator Clinton 'satan'. He can do that. It’s fair game. It’s funny."

But not quite live! Bloodied radio cowboy returns Dec. 3 with 21-second delay; WABC says ad sales going at fast clip; first day’s guest, Carville; Ambivalent Russert battered on blogs.  read more »