NYC Radio: Don Imus Put WFAN 'On the Map'

Don Imus, WFAN

Although Imus In the Morning aired on a sports station, it dabbled in news, politics and entertainment. The show has been credited with helping the station establish its footing in the New York City market by providing a highly-rated lead-in to other programming.

"Imus put this station truly on the map," said Mark Chernoff, WFAN's vice president of programming. "And he was the springboard for the success that came afterward."

1010 WINS reports that Chernoff, in an interview with WFAN 660 AM / 101.9 FM Friday, added, "It really was an amazing 14 years working with Imus. We'd go on the road to do remotes in cities where we had affiliated stations. It was amazing -- we could do a remote here in New York and six people might show up sometimes. But you'd go to Bangor, Maine, and there would be 2,000 people in an auditorium. He was kind of taken for granted in New York in a lot of ways which is really pretty funny because of all the ratings and all the things he had done."

He added, "I saw so many of the good things that people didn't always see."



WFAN Host Mike Francesa, who co-hosted the "Mike and the Mad Dog" afternoon drive show for nearly all of Imus' run on WFAN, called into the station Friday to discuss his friend and mentor.

"When you write the history of radio, Paul Harvey's name will be there. Howard Stern's name will be there. Hopefully Mike and the Mad Dog's name will be somewhere near the top. But Don Imus will be in the top three or four, for sure," Francesa said. "He was one of the real radio icons.

"The idea of a sports station taking off at the beginning was crazy. No one thought it was possible. And because of what Imus gave us in terms of revenue, in terms of name value, in terms of branding, in terms of stability allowed the rest of us to build a sports legacy on top of what he had already established. And that's where FAN came from, and that's why FAN is now one of the iconic brands in the history of radio."



Imus' unsparing on-air persona was tempered by his off-air philanthropy, raising more than $40 million for groups including the CJ Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He ran a New Mexico ranch for dying children, and often used his radio show to "solicit" guests for donations.

A pediatric medical center bearing Imus' name was opened at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.