BLACK CO-HOSTS ADDED TO DON IMUS RADIO SHOW

Plus, jock blasts Wayans and Hughley for agreeing with his racist/sexist comments.

Don Imus made his big return to radio on Monday with two African Americans added to his cast of morning show regulars and a promise to stay edgy without resorting to racist and sexist comments.

Joining regular sidekicks Rob Bartlett and Charles McCord are African American comedians Karith Foster and Tony Powell. Foster was described in the New York Post as "a black Texas Jew with New York roots and an Oxford education."

"We now have the opportunity to have a better program, to obviously diversify the cast... but the program is not going to change," Imus said at the start of his new daily radio show on Citadel Broadcasting Corp's ABC Radio Networks.

Eight months ago, Imus was fired from his longtime syndicated CBS Radio show for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy headed hoes." ABC Radio Networks signed Imus in November for a reported $5 million.

"I will never say anything in my lifetime that will make any of these young women regret or feel foolish that they accepted my apology or forgave me," Imus told ABC's Barbara Walters as part of her upcoming "10 Most Fascinating People of 2007" special.

Imus also spoke out against black comedians Damon Wayans and D.L. Hughley, who have each joked publicly that the radio host's offensive comments were accurate.

"None of us should say it. They should talk to those women at Rutgers if they want to know how they feel about it," Imus said. "It was demonstrated to these young women that there are consequences to what you say."

DON IMUS RETURNS TO THE AIRWAVES

DON IMUS returned to the air MONDAY morning on CITADEL Talk WABC-A/NEW YORK and in syndication with a live broadcast from NEW YORK's TOWN HALL, introducing the members of his broadcast crew and guest performer LEVON HELM, who opened the show with "Ashes of Love." CHARLES MCCORD, BERNARD MCGUIRK, and, back at the studio, LOU RUFINO were introduced as returning to IMUS' show, and HACKENSACK MEDICAL CENTER aired a special spot as the first returning advertiser.

In the course of a long opening mea culpa for the controversy that got him fired in APRIL from CBS Sports WFAN-A/NEW YORK and WESTWOOD ONE, IMUS told the audience, "I think what happened is what should have happened... you don't get to decide, nor should you, how the news media is gong to treat a remark you made." Blaming himself for having made the remark, IMUS said that CBS' LES MOONVES called him before his scheduled meeting with the RUTGERS women's basketball team and told him that CBS couldn't handle the pressure and would fire him, although he praised MOONVES as "honorable."

Sens. CHRIS DODD (D-CT) and JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), historian DORIS KEARNS-GOODWIN, and pundits JAMES CARVILLE and MARY MATALIN were IMUS' scheduled guests for the opening broadcast.

At WABC, former morning co-host CURTIS SLIWA and newsman GEORGE WEBER handled 5-6a TODAY.

RADIO DJ PULLED OFF AIR FOR REMARKS ABOUT URBAN SCHOOLS IN MICHIGAN

WHNN Apologizes, Pulls Host From Air Over 'Math Test'

CITADEL Oldies WHNN/SAGINAW, reacting to criticism from FLINT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, has taken morning man JOHNNY BURKE off the air for now for posting a joke math test on the station website taking shots at FLINT's troubles, including questions using drive-by shootings, drug deals, and prostitution as examples. The station issued a statement offering "sincere apologies" and said, "It was not the intent to embarrass any children, teachers or staff of the FLINT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS." The apology appears on the front page of whnn.com.

Before his suspension, BURKE told ABC affiliate WJRT-TV/FLINT, "All urban districts across MID-MICHIGAN should take this test. It would not have been nearly as effective as singling out one district to be the worst of all of them and I believe the FLINT SCHOOL DISTRICT is the worst. I honestly believe that you can print that.... I'm upset with the way the FLINT schools are being run."

Seven high schools in the FLINT area made a list of schools characterized as "dropout factories" in a JOHNS HOPKINS/AP analysis of EDUCATION DEPARTMENT data.

DON IMUS BACK ON THE AIR DECEMBER 3RD

Confirmed: Imus-Citadel Pact A Done Deal

Back In Business

The ASSOCIATED PRESS has confirmed what has been widely speculated: DON IMUS will take over mornings at Talk WABC-A/NEW YORK, starting DECEMBER 3rd.

IMUS will return longtime news reporter CHARLES McCORD, and other members of his morning team -- although the CITADEL announcement did not specifically mention producer BERNARD MCGUIRK, who was fired along with Imus.

"We are ecstatic to bring DON IMUS back to morning radio," said WABC Pres./GM 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."

THE NEW YORK POST earlier reported that the five-year deal will pay IMUS $5-8 million annually, and will "more likely than not" include syndication to other CITADEL/ABC stations, starting with Talk KABC-A/LOS ANGELES.

A separate TV deal is in negotiations, LAURIA reports. IMUS will be replacing CURTIS SLIWA in mornings; SLIWA's co-host RON KUBY recently left the station. Ironically, the AP story noted that SLIWA and KUBY routinely beat IMUS in the mornings when he was on WFAN-A.

NATIVE AMERICAN LEADERS TO PROTEST AT MINNEAPOLIS RADIO STATION

Furious over recent on-air comments made by CITADEL Classic Rock KQRS/MINNEAPOLIS personality TOM BARNARD and his show's co-hosts, American Indian leaders plan to protest at KQRS at 10a TODAY, reports THE STAR TRIBUNE. Representatives of the American Indian Movement (AIM), the RED LAKE Indian Reservation and urban Indian leaders hope to meet with executives from the station.

AIM co-founder CLYDE BELLECORT said the remarks about the RED LAKE CHIPPEWA and SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX tribes were "ignorant." He compared them to comments made this spring by DON IMUS.

The uproar stems from a broadcast last month in which BARNARD and co-host TERRI TRAEN talked about the RED LAKE and SHAKOPEE tribes while discussing a report by the state Health Department that BELTRAMI COUNTY has the state's highest rate of suicide among young people.

The jocks then mentioned BEMIDJI and the RED LAKE Indian Reservation, which are both located in BELTRAMI COUNTY.

"Maybe it's genetic; isn't there a lot of incest up there?" TRAEN said about the tribe.

"Not that I know of," BARNARD replied.

"I think there is," TRAEN continued. "Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure."

"Well, I'm glad you just threw it out there, then," BARNARD said to laughter in the background.

Minority groups have long criticized BARNARD and his crew for their on-air banter.

In the late 1990s, members of the SOMALI community picketed over BARNARD and Co.'s mocking of SOMALI dialects after a SOMALI cabdriver was slain. Before that, the Asian-American community was irate when BARNARD and his co-hosts made fun of a teenage HMONG girl who was charged with killing her newborn son.

They said of her potential $10,000 fine: "That's a lot of eggrolls."

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THEY NEED ALL THE HELP THEY CAN GET

McCain, Richardson: We'll Go On Imus Show

The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS has checked with presidential candidates to see which would go on DON IMUS' new show if and when the host returns to radio as morning man at CITADEL Talk WABC-A/NEW YORK, and only two -- Democcrat BILL RICHARDSON and Republican JOHN MCCAIN -- responded by saying that they'd do IMUS' show.

MCCAIN said, "I believe in redemption, and I've made so many mistakes in my life and I've asked people to give me another opportunity. What he did was unacceptable, but all of us in life, I think, ought to be able to move forward." RICHARDSON's press secretary TOM REYNOLDS told the NEWS that the candidate "strongly believes this is a society of forgiveness and second chances, and that the radio host has paid his debt for his mistake."

Among the other candidates, BARACK OBAMA said through a spokesperson that he "does not intend to go on the show and hopes that Imus has learned from the hurt and pain he caused," HILLARY CLINTON's spokesperson said that the candidate " hasn't done it before. I can't imagine her ever doing it in the future," and RUDY GIULIANI did not comment, although he previously said that he would not stay away from the show.

The paper checked candidates' positions after it ran an op-ed article this weekend from former presidential candidate BOB KERREY calling on candidates to appear on the show. The KERREY article warned that "Democrats in particular may fear the wrath of the AL SHARPTONS of the world and feel pressured to stay away. We can't afford to start putting our interviewers through purity tests."

SHARPTON, responding to KERREY, repeated his veiled threat of a boycott of IMUS advertisers and said "If I'm running for office, I want to reach as many people as possible. But I also don't want to abandon the voters that I need the most, and for Democrats, that's women and black people."

IMUS TALKING TO FARM NETWORK

The NEW YORK TIMES is reporting that DON IMUS is talking with a cable network about relaunching a simulcast of his upcoming CITADEL/WABC-A/NEW YORK show, but it's not one of the major news channels -- it's RFD-TV.

The OMAHA-based network, reaching 30 million homes mostly through DISH NETWORK and DIRECTV, is known for farm and agricultural programming and polka shows. The TIMES notes that the channel aired a documentary about the IMUS RANCH on LABOR DAY weekend.

DON IMUS INCHES CLOSER TO A RETURN

According to the Drudge Report, WABC radio in New York has struck a deal with fired jock Don Imus to bring his "Imus in the Morning" radio show back to the airwaves.

Last spring, the program was booted from its radio home at CBS and television portal MSNBC after he called the Rutgers University basketball team "nappy-headed hoes."

According to Drudge, the new deal comes with an "eight-figure, multi-year contract."

A source says WABC plans to cover its behind by keeping Imus on a 40-second delay, which will give censors plenty of time to bleep out questionable content.

As previously reported, Imus settled with former employer CBS over his breach-of-contract lawsuit for a reported $20 million.

DECEMBER 3 FOR IMUS RETURN?

The rumors are settling on a return to the radio at the beginning of DECEMBER for DON IMUS, with NEWSDAY's NEIL BEST reporting sources saying that IMUS' debut at CITADEL Talk WABC-A/NEW YORK will occur DECEMBER 3 while others, including the WASHINGTON POST and today's NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, are picking DECEMBER 1 for the debut, although the 1st lands on a SATURDAY.

Asked about the possible return, Rev. AL SHARPTON told the DAILY NEWS that he wants to know if "there are any safeguards in his contract against his past behavior. If there are not, then we may approach advertisers and say, 'How can they support this?'"