Don Imus Heartlands a New TV Gig

Don Imus is officially forgiven in the heartland. The veteran radio and TV hell-raiser who was booted from MSNBC after his injudicious comments about Rutgers University's women's hoop stars has a new multimillion-dollar TV gig, the New York Times reports. RFD-TV, a rural cable and satellite outlet available to some 30 million homes, is expected to sign Imus, who already has a deal with New York City radio's WABC-AM, for a daily morning show and a nightly rerun. Plans are for the formerly disgraced personality to debut his show on Dec. 3, possibly with a live telecast from Manhattan's Town Hall. RFD founder Patrick Gottsch says Imus' many mea culpas are "good enough for me," and he sees the show as the ideal vehicle to raise his channel’s profile.Imus's RDF colleagues will include cattle auctions, country music and the popular Big Joe Polka Show. Sounds pretty ripe for some Imus satire to us. — Ileane Rudolph