Spencer Platt, Getty Images Don Imus talks with the Rev. Al Sharpton on Sharpton's radio show Monday.

By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Don Imus show is not on radio here, but it will be soon, once his suspension is over -- assuming he doesn't resign or get fired.

Talk station WURP-AM (1550), which has carried "Imus in the Morning" in the past, is changing hands and still plans to air Imus once again in morning drive.

WURP will be operated by Businesstalkradio.net Inc., which owns the Business Talk Radio Network and Lifestyle Talk Radio Network. Company president and CEO Michael Metter said that despite the raging controversy over Imus' comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, the company doesn't plan to drop the show.

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"What he did was horrible. It was very insensitive. But it doesn't make him a bad guy," he added, citing Imus' charitable projects.

"In this country, we're forgiving. And we're going to carry him."

WURP's new format was scheduled to launch April 15 -- the day before Imus' two-week suspension begins -- but has been delayed while some technical issues are being resolved. Metter estimates it will debut in a few weeks, with "Imus in the Morning" as part of the mix.

Imus' comments continued to make news yesterday -- Rutgers women's basketball team agreed to meet with embattled radio host even after their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, called his comments "racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable and unconscionable."

Players stopped short of saying whether they thought Imus should be fired for calling them "nappy-headed hos."

"We all agreed the meeting with Mr. Imus will help," said Essence Carson, a member of the team that lost the NCAA women's championship game to Tennessee last week. "We do hope to get something accomplished during this meeting."

The incident was fodder for Imus colleagues across the dial, locally and nationally.

On Pittsburgh radio, the topic was the subject of spirited discussion on WTZN-FM (93.7) host John McIntire's show yesterday, where the racist and sexist remarks were characterized as an intended joke that wasn't funny: McIntire also criticized the Rev. Al Sharpton for exploiting the situation.

Imus and Sharpton appeared on NBC's "Today" show yesterday, when Imus said the suspension was "appropriate, and I am going to try to serve it with some dignity." Sharpton called the suspension "not nearly enough. I think it is too little, too late." He said presidential candidates and other politicians should refrain from going on Imus' show in the future.

Syndicated Dennis Miller called it "a huge gaffe," and "incredibly ill mannered" but felt that suspension was enough of a punishment.

Sirius Satellite Radio host Howard Stern, who has waged his own battles over content with the FCC, has often ridiculed Imus on his own show. On Monday's edition, he criticized Imus for "apologizing like a guy who got his first broadcasting job."

Anthony Cumia of the syndicated Opie and Anthony show defended Imus, citing a double standard that would allow a black radio host to get away with saying the same thing.

Opie and Anthony had to cool their own heels after a stunt that offended many: In 2002, the jocks were fired for airing audio of a couple allegedly having sex at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York. Five years later, they're back on the air: their syndicated show airs here on talk station WTZN-FM (93.7).

In 2003, conservative talk host Michael Savage was fired from MSNBC for calling a caller a sodomite and saying he should "get AIDS and die." Savage is still on the radio, airing here in WPGB-FM (104.7).

Locally, hosts Jim Quinn and Don Jefferson were the center of a high-profile defamation lawsuit filed against them for on-air comments they made about a then-colleague, news anchor Liz Randolph. Quinn is now on WPGB; Jefferson has left the market.

MSNBC, which telecasts the radio show, said Imus' expressions of regret and embarrassment, coupled with his stated dedication to changing the show's discourse, made it believe suspension was the appropriate response.

"Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word," the network said late Monday.

Imus has urged critics to recognize that his show is a comedy that spreads insults broadly. The host or his on-air colleagues have called Colin Powell a "weasel," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson a "fat sissy" and referred to Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, an American Indian, as "the guy from 'F Troop.' "

However, the joke about the Rutgers team, by his own admission, went "way too far."

It was very insensitive. But it doesn't make him a bad guy."

Businesstalkradio.net Inc. CEO Michael Metter"