The Bob Nardelli of Talk Radio

^{Radio talk show host Don Imus on the air in April, before CBS Radio fired him and canceled his program. Photograph by Monika Graff/UPI/Landov}

Is Don Imus already back in the saddle again?

Only four months after controversial on-air commentary lost the shock jock his job at CBS Radio, rumor has it that the broadcasting veteran is making his way back on the airwaves.

One station's trash may be another's treasure; an unnamed source is claiming that WABC plans to put the besmirched talk radio personality back in the studio.

Imus, 66, lost his nationally syndicated radio program in mid-April after making derogatory on-air comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

A public uproar ensued, advertisers were spooked, and the station had no choice but to pull the plug on their long-time cash cow.

Folks at WABC weren't immediately available for comment.

If the latest rumors are true, though, the station is doing some tricky calculus about just how short the public's attention span is for outrage. Was the brouhaha just a bump in the road for an otherwise golden asset, or is Imus permanently tainted goods?

And most importantly ... will he do it again?

While we might not have seen the last of Don Imus, his super-sized lawsuit is gone for good. CBS has confirmed that they've reached a settlement with Imus pre-empting his threatened $120 million breach of contract suit.

The terms of the settlement weren't released, so it will remain a mystery how much CBS was willing to pay to make the whole thing go away.

by Liz Gunnison