Imus Fired: Downplaying TV Loss, Imus Says “Big Part Of This Program Is Radio”

On his radio show this morning, Imus said he understands MSNBC’s decision and the pressure they were under. According to FishbowlDC, he took a few shots at the network:

> Imus says he spoke with MSNBC Senior VP Phil Griffin and said “some of the stuff that MSNBC has done this morning is frankly unethical and I’ve asked them to stop doing it.”

> Imus also said that losing television (via MSNBC) isn’t as big as losing radio. “The big part of the program is radio. There’s millions of people listening to the radio. At best a few hundred thousand are watching television.”

> Imus said: “Another big-time broadcasting executive called me last night and said they talked with Jeff Zucker and they were complaining that they had cancelled the simulcast 12 hours before we were getting ready to conduct this radio-thon for these three charities.”