After six years of his trademark curmudgeonly early morning rants, Fox Business Network (FBN) host Don Imus will be leaving the network.
Imus, 74, whose last show will be on May 29, said Monday during his show, "We go off television May 29,"
the New York Daily News reported, noting that FBN has confirmed Imus' impending departure.
Imus added, "Why? I do not know. There's 10 times, maybe a hundred times, more people that listen to the radio than watch television."
An FBN insider told the Daily News the move had been in the works since January, with Imus planning to relocate to his ranch in Texas full time, adding that the split happened "amicably."
As much can't be said for Imus' latest flap, in which he invoked the ire of Fox News Channel anchor Greta Van Susteren over comments Imus made about Dana Perino, former Bush White House press secretary, after she appeared on his show.
Imus blasted Perino, saying she had "an attitude," ducked his questions, and referred to country singer Dwight Yoakam as her "warm-up act,"
Mediaite reported.
Imus further said, "First of all, she was the press secretary. That was a mercy move. Another no-talent loser. Honest to God. Are you kidding me? She sucks and her book sucks," Mediaite reported.
Van Susteren fired back at Imus on her website, stating, "Let me be the first to respond to this. Don Imus is bitter and mean spirited (maybe trying to get attention as his show ends May 29?)
"I have no idea what provoked this but it sure is nasty and unwarranted. It is not exactly the kind of legacy one wants to have as one leaves a show. Is this how he wants everyone to remember him? And Dana, as a true professional, should just ignore it."
Imus began his radio talk show, "Imus in the Morning," in 1971, jumped to television in 1996 with MSNBC until 2007 when he was dropped over racial comments he made on-air about the Rutgers women's basketball team. After a brief stint with RFD-TV, a rural channel, he ended up on FBN in 2009,
All Access reports.
Imus, who is expected to continue on radio, will be "spending the summer at his recently purchased ranch in Texas which, unlike his previous ranch in New Mexico, has no remote television studio facilities," the Daily News reported.
"Imus and his wife Deirdre plan to spend more time in Texas, in part because of Imus' respiratory problems and in part because their son Wyatt has a growing rodeo career based there."