Scranton, PA.
Don Imus bid goodbye to Scranton, Pa., last Friday, and Scranton responded by showing him the door. Citadel Communications Corp.'s WARM(AM) pulled the plug on Imus' syndicated show at 8:30 a.m. that day-for good-as the shock jock ranted about a local hotel, according to Scranton Times & Tribune reporter Rich Mates.
Imus complained that the hotel, where he had been staying in advance of a live remote in the ballroom, refused to put through a telephone call from his wife. He packed his bags and returned to New York at 3:30 a.m., Mates said. That left the station in the lurch, along with about 500 fans who had showed up to see the remote. Imus' syndicator, CBS Corp.'s Westwood One, declined comment. However, Imus detractors filled up MSNBC's Web site (Imus' show is simulcast on the cable channel). "I am from the Scranton area, and thank God I didn't get up early to see this loser, who chose not to do his job," one missive said. "Thanks for nothing!" Another wrote, "He doesn't have a cell phone or a pager? Sheesh..."
