The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio, before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971.

After Imus and RFD reached a mutual agreement to prematurely terminate the five-year deal, Fox Business Network began simulcasting the program on October 5, 2009, an arrangement which ended on May 29, 2015.

WNBC signed off in October 1988, and WFAN decided to retain Imus, replacing its original morning drive-time show hosted by Greg Gumbel.

Initially limited to the broadcast range of WFAN in the New York metropolitan area, the show's radio audience and influence expanded considerably once Westwood One began syndicating it in 1993.

The show's many guests included prominent politicians such as Bill Clinton (during his 1992 presidential campaign), Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, John McCain, John Kerry, Vice President Dick Cheney, J. D. Hayworth and Harold Ford Jr., as well as reporters and columnists from Newsweek, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News and other media outlets.

Among the cream of the press who regularly appeared on the show were Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Dan Rather, Brian Williams, Andrea Mitchell, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, Howard Fineman, Mike Barnicle, Frank Rich, Jonathan Alter and Jeff Greenfield.

Kiley also quoted former CBS News anchor and Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer as saying, "I don’t know anyone in Washington who doesn’t listen to Imus or watch him on TV.

Part of the appeal of his show was the overt display of office politics: cast members were frequently the object of Imus' sarcasm, largely because of their outspoken points of view.

[17] Bernard McGuirk, his producer, was the show's antagonist, whom Imus had sometimes referred to as a "bald-headed stooge"; he also performed character voices (such as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, former New York Catholic Archbishops Cardinals Edward Egan and John Joseph O'Connor, and poet Maya Angelou).

McGuirk was the only other member of the cast to lose his job in the Rutgers controversy[18] and was initially uncharacteristically quiet for the first few weeks of the revival before returning, saying only "Hi" during the first show back on December 3, 2007, on WABC-AM.

[19] Other sports reporters included Chris Carlin (best known for "the fat boy lock of the week!,") Patrick McEnroe (who auditioned to replace Imus on WFAN), Don Criqui, Mike Breen (valued for his deadpan delivery of false sports news, and ridiculed after his head injuries during the 2008 NBA Finals), and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo.

Rob Bartlett[20] impersonated a cast of celebrities (Bill Clinton, The Godfather, Dr. Phil, Brian Wilson, Hulk Hogan, Rush Limbaugh, Scott Muni, Omar Minaya, Alberto Gonzales, Vicente Fox, Al Gore, Blind Mississippi White Boy Pig Feets Dupris, Liza Minnelli, Yoko Ono, Carl Paladino, Mick Jagger and many others).

Other previous reporters included Janice Dean, Christy Musumeci, and Tracy Burgess, who departed for Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and WFAN respectively.

Karith Foster, a Texas-raised black woman hired in the wake of the Rutgers controversy, was a comedian and general contributor, but left the show in August 2009 after her contract was not renewed.

[21] On October 19, 1998, Newsday reported that Imus called Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz "that boner-nosed ... beanie-wearing little Jew boy".

Sid Rosenberg, who provided sports updates on the Imus show, got into trouble when he suggested on air that tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams were animals better suited to pose for National Geographic than Playboy.

[29] The following day, Bryan Monroe, the president of the National Association of Black Journalists, described Imus's comments as "beyond offensive"[30] and called for his immediate firing.

[32] Also on April 9, presidential candidate Barack Obama termed Imus's comments, "Divisive, hurtful, and offensive to Americans of all backgrounds", saying "With a public platform comes a trust.

NBC News President Steve Capus released a prepared statement explaining the network's action: "Beginning Monday, April 16, MSNBC will suspend simulcasting the syndicated Imus in the Morning radio program for two weeks.

Asked for his reaction, Sharpton told The New York Times that "we have been halfway successful so far" and that he was planning to organize a demonstration in front of CBS's Manhattan corporate headquarters.

"[10] On Thursday morning, April 12, 2007, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton met with CBS President and CEO Les Moonves to demand that Imus be fired.

Don and Deirdre Imus met with the Rutgers team on the evening of April 12 at the New Jersey Governor's Mansion, according to a report broadcast by CNN, which characterized the meeting as "emotional".

Newsweek magazine in its April 23, 2007, cover story said that for too long its own reporters coveted an invitation to appear on Imus in the Morning: Suddenly some of America's largest media companies and most important corporate advertisers were confronted with the fact that they had been complicit in the rise and reign of a purveyor of ugly stereotypes.

[41] "Bo" Dietl, a regular guest on Imus in the Morning denounced Moonves on Fox News Channel for CBS' cancellation of Imus while producing rap music with anti-female lyrics, saying, "Mr. Les Moonves, you care about the quality, why don't you care about your CBS records with all the garbage my 17-year-old daughter listens to and they use this word 'ho' back and forth and they degrade women all the time.

[50] Newsman Charles McCord, producer Bernard McGuirk, and engineer Lou Rufino were part of the revived show, along with most of television production crew that worked the MSNBC broadcast; the first guests were historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Senator John McCain, Senator Christopher Dodd, Democratic Party strategist James Carville, and Imus regular Bo Dietl.

Although the contract between Imus and RFD was originally for five years, both parties decided to mutually end the simulcast prematurely, amid reports of the program's inevitable move to Fox Business.

[4] Everyone from the radio side remained, as well as Connell McShane (who continued to work for both Imus and Fox Business simultaneously until a change in management forced McShane to focus on his Fox Business work full-time beginning at the end of 2017); the remainder of the television cast members did not follow Imus to the radio side.

Imus was off the air frequently during 2017 because of health problems,[64] some of which stem from a 2014 rib injury that made it difficult for him to breathe; he also suffered from emphysema for an unknown length of time.

[67] The decision was not entirely of Imus's choosing; as he stated on-air, Cumulus Media intends to void his contract in the company's chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

[69] In his closing remarks, Imus tearfully expressed remorse for his 2007 statements, thanked a select few members of the family and close radio associates, and stated that, while he would not miss the grind of a daily radio show, he would miss the listeners, thanking them for listening and for their contributions to the numerous charitable causes Imus promoted throughout his career.