Imus Debuts on WABC-AM December 3, 2007

Listeners Assured Nothing Has Changed

With his usually tongue-in-cheek and angry edge, Don Imus assured listeners that nothing about his new show on WABC-AM in New York City will be different. He added that “Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I am back on the radio!” to the cheers and applause of a sold-out audience who paid $100 each to attend the maiden broadcast live at NYC’s Town Hall.

Imus also quipped that he signed a five-year contract with Citadel Broadcasting because “it is going to take me five years alone to get even with everybody.”

The Imus program was syndicated to a number of other stations around the country and more, including other Citadel stations, are likely to sign up. The program was also simulcast on cable by RFD-TV, owned by Rural Media Group, Inc, that reaches almost 30 million homes. RFD-TV hopes Imus will get their subscriber base up to 50 million homes in the next two years.

Imus seemed genuinely contrite about the events that led to his termination. He recounted his meeting with the Rutgers’ team for the first time and made his first public comments about his removal from the airwaves on April 12 by CBS Radio. While his comments are unlikely to appease his critics, Imus seemed far more concerned with offering another apology and making his case to his loyal fans. He also added that the whole mess was his own fault. When talking about his anger and frustration over the last eight months, he said, “I would remind myself that if I hadn’t said what I said, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”