"Imus in the Morning" is coming to an end.
The decades-old radio show hosted by Don Imus will air its final episode on March 29, Imus announced during Monday's broadcast.
Imus' contract was slated to end in December, but the syndicator of his show, Cumulus Media, filed for bankruptcy last year and decided to move on from Imus sooner rather than pay him millions of dollars to finish out the year, the veteran host explained.
"They have a responsibility, as far as the bankruptcy, to try to cut costs, to save money and figure out a way to make the thing work," Imus told listeners Monday.
The syndicated program, which airs weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. E.T., currently broadcasts on 84 stations across America, including the flagship station WABC.
Imus, 77, began hosting "Imus in the Morning" in 1971. In addition to WABC, the program has called WNBC and WFAN home in the past.
MSNBC simulcast the show for over a decade as well, but Imus was fired by both the network and CBS _ which owns WFAN _ in April 2007 after he infamously made derogatory comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. He returned to the air eight months later on WABC.
The New York-based Imus expressed confidence the current management group will be able to turn things around, but concluded, "I'm not part of that solution, because I'm not going to be here."
He also made it clear he leaves without any acrimony.
"The agreement they had me sign was full of language about, 'He can't disparage the company.' Well I wasn't going to do that," Imus said Monday, "I don't feel like that."
