Imus Still Going One Year After the 'Blacklash'

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Don Imus's return to radio. (CBS Radio fired him in April 2007, you'll recall, after he joked that the black members of a women's basketball team were "nappy-headed hos.") Talking about the milestone this morning with Karith Foster and Tony Powell -- two African-American comedians he brought on to insulate himself from charges of racism -- the I-man fell prey to a wee Freudian slip, asking them if they had encountered any "blacklash" after throwing their lots in with him. (He quickly corrected himself.)

In many ways, Imus in the Morning has bounced back from its exile. The show, now syndicated by ABC Radio, is on 50 stations, up from 47 at the time of his departure from CBS. A spokesman says some 95 percent of his sponsors have returned, and WABC (his home station) is generating more revenue in the time slot than it was a year ago.

And he's still attracting big guests. CBS's Bob Schieffer is scheduled to be on tomorrow, and Imus said this morning that Bill O'Reilly will join him on an upcoming program. Or maybe not, if O'Reilly was listening this morning when Imus talked to Fox Business Network anchor Alexis Glick. Mentioning that O'Reilly would be coming in to promote his book, Imus added (somewhat randomly), "or he's taking a shower with someone." That's a reference to the sexual harassment suit filed against O'Reilly by producer Andrea Macris in 2004. Imus immediately chastised himself: "We don't need to bring that stuff up. It's not helpful."