Don Imus back on the air in New York City on Dec. 3
[Posted by Dave Haber on Thursday, 11/01/07 4:44 pm] [Permalink] [Digg This]As a long-time Imus fan, it is my pleasure to write here that it was announced today that Don Imus will return to the air on Dec. 3 after being yanked off the air eight months ago due to a perceived racist and sexist remark.
Citadel Broadcasting Corp. made the announcement, confirming long-rumored reports that Imus was coming back to morning drive time on WABC in New York City. Imus was fired back on April 12 by CBS Radio.
"We are ecstatic to bring Don Imus back to morning radio," said WABC radio President and General Manager Steve Borneman. "Don's unique brand of humor, knowledge of the issues and ability to attract big-name guests is unparalleled. He is rested, fired up and ready to do great radio."
According to reports, Imus will return with his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, and other members of his morning team, Citadel said in announcing the move. However, the status of Bernard McGuirk, the producer who instigated Imus on the Rutgers comment and was fired as well, is not known.
While the WABC website says the Imus will also be syndicated nationally on the ABC Radio Network, there are no details yet as to other stations Imus will be carried on besides WABC in New York City. There was also no word any new TV deal for Imus. Before he was fired, the "Imus In the Morning" program aired on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC cable network.
I hope the new Imus show will be carried by a station here in Los Angeles, but if not, I guess I'll still be able to listen to WABC on the internet. I'm looking foward to hearing Imus back on the air again!
For more information and to listen to WABC live on the internet, Click here.
Imus still on the air in Loma Linda
[Posted by Dave Haber on Saturday, 04/14/07 3:45 pm] [Permalink] [Digg This] Because of a small San Bernardino radio station, KCAA-AM in Loma Linda, California, Don Imus is stil on the air.
According to Channel 4 TV in Los Angeles, the 1400-watt station says it will run a "Best of Imus" series next week in defiance of the firing of the radio host after he made sexist and racist remarks on his nationally syndicated show.
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Station chairman Fred Lundgren says the station will begin the series Monday with the program that ended Imus' 40-year career: the one where he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed ho's."
The station also plans to also air mostly supportive listener mail and e-mail reacting to the week-long controversy.
Lundgren says the station needs Imus to fill out its morning schedule. He says without the Imus show, the station is "pretty much toast." But he also says he thinks the Imus situation is "an overreaction beyond anything" he's "ever seen in radio."
Thank you, Mr. Lundgren, for standing up for Imus, and as a result, standing up for the Free Speech of all Americans!
BTW, Loma Linda is only about an hour drive, about 70 miles, from where Don Imus started his radio career, Palmdale, California, in 1968.
[Information thanks to KNBC TV 4 Los Angeles]
Imus terminated, along with your Freedom of Speech
[Posted by Dave Haber on Friday, 04/13/07 5:10 pm] [Permalink] [Digg This] The original "shock jock" Don Imus was fired late last night from WFAN and CBS Radio, following his ouster just the day before from his simulcast on MSNBC Cable TV.
I used to listen to Don Imus when I was in college in New York in the late seventies. I lost track of him after that for many years, except temporarily a few years ago when his show was carried for a while on a station in Los Angles. Living in L.A., his MSNBC simulcast was on while I was asleep.
My fandom of Imus notwithstanding, I think it is outrageous that he has been fired.
I think he was fired for the wrong reasons. If it weren't for the vocal community leaders, he'd still be on the air. He apologized to the members of the Rutgers basketball team, if any of them had said they thought he should be fired, the action would have been understandable. But, they did not. If advertisers had been hearing from the public that they would no longer buy the products of someone who sponsored Imus, the action would have been understandable. But they did not.
I am a firm believer in the free market system, if people stopped listening/watching Imus because of this incident, then I agree, take him off the air. But nobody gave him that chance, did they?
Are we, as a nation, no longer allowed to kid people about things? Are we no longer allowed to make any jokes which denegrate someone, whatsoever? Has anyone ever heard of the First Amendment? I have a right to speak like a jerk. You have the right to point out that I'm speaking like a jerk, of course. But you don't have the right to prevent me from speaking like a jerk. And that's the road we're headed down today with the firing of Imus.
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