Don Imus signs deal to return to radio

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disgraced shock jock Don Imus, who was fired by CBS Radio six months ago in an uproar over an on-air racial slur he made, has signed a deal to return to radio on December 3 with a new nationally syndicated morning show.

Imus will broadcast his show out of the AM-radio station WABC in New York, airing daily from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and be syndicated around the United States through ABC Radio Networks, which is owned by Citadel Broadcasting Corp, the company said on Thursday.

"We are ecstatic to bring Don Imus back to morning radio," WABC President and General Manager Steve Borneman said in a statement posted on the station's Web site.

"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," Borneman added.

The announcement said Imus would be returning to the airwaves with "his team," including his longtime newsman and sidekick Charles McCord. But there was no mention of whether Imus would be subject to any new limitations on his often-provocative and insulting commentary.

Imus, 67, whose CBS program blended locker-room humor with interviews of A-list politicians and other leading lights, had been widely reported to be close to a deal with Citadel-owned WABC for several weeks.

His old "Imus in the Morning" show was canceled in April after he referred to the mostly black Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" -- a phrase that combined an antiquated term for coarse, curly hair with a slang word for whore.

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