Comcast: Olbermann was not forced out
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Neither side is talking about Keith Olbermann’s surprise departure from MSNBC, but the gist from a slew of reports (based on anonymous insiders) is that the host’s long-strained relations with management simply never recovered from his suspension over political donations. (See Politico and the Wall Street Journal for more.) Quiet talks were reportedly under way for weeks to end his contract early. The move comes on the eve of Comcast’s takeover of NBC, and while many Olbermann fans think the cable giant forced him out, Mediaite and the Los Angeles Times don’t think the company had a say in the move. Comcast honchos are no doubt thrilled, however, notes the LAT.
- Official Comcast response: “We pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not interfere with NBC Universal’s news operations. We have not and we will not.”
- Show shuffle: Lawrence O’Donnell to 8pm, Ed Schultz to 10, and Cenk Uygur (of the web’s Young Turks show) gets a show at 6. Rachel Maddow remains at 9.
- Surprise, surprise: It had happened so abruptly, MSNBC was still running promos for his show after Olbermann’s signoff.
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I agree with Lazer that he had moved to far to the left and that he had started acting like a “retained attorney” for his party instead of a genuine leftist journalist. I actually stopped watching him as much because of it.
Even so, he was still the best representative “our side” had, and his loss feels worse than the Republican take over of the House to me.
I am a bit devastated, and worse still, I will not have a clue what I think about anything now!
I stopped watching Ed Schultz some months ago because his ranting was just too much to bear. I also stopped watching KO for the same reasons. While I consider myself a liberal thinker I do not consider myself anywhere near a hard Leftie. I abhor extremism of any kind.
I have a really hard time w/Schultz too. But I keep him on in the background (sound off) as I believe we have to support what very little left of the center commentary and news we have remaining on tv. The right has 10s of hours each week between NewsCorp and the rightwing nutters on talk radio..we have what…14 hours a week w/Maddow, Ed and Lawrence? Lawrence is left and on some issues a moderate, which is ok by me. I don’t listen to radio anytime anywhere so I don’t get to listen to the left talk radio..what there is of it.
If we do not support the tv left, they will remove it as it won’t make them any money..which is all the coroporte owners really care about. Do you think Rupert would keep Faux’s rightwing nutters on if he didn’t have the money rolling in? Hell no he wouldn’t!
I think Maddow supplies the news from the leftist perspective whilst KO gave us the left pov of said news. There is of course, a big difference between the two. Maddow does do commentary too, albeit,not as biting as KO’s was.
I have a good friend that is high up inside MSNBC. We have been online since five minutes after this went down friday night. Comcast has no control until monday morning. The prima donna image KO has comes from his refusal to cowtow (sp) to exec’s at MSNBC and he had the power to hold his positions being the highest rated show there. Did he go over the top many times? Of course, his latest being his piece on Liebermann and calling him a delusional liar on the air.
Insiders like my friend are saying KO changed quickly after the death of his father. The fire went out and he just didn’t seem to have any fight left. Sure, he didn’t give in, but he didn’t seem to have any fire left in his eyes when he stood his ground.
Comcast is no where near the rightwing side of the fence as GE is. And the money Countdown brought in was far more important to Comcast than it was to GE, one of the biggest players in the weapon’s business and govt contractors business.
Unless and until KO speaks on the subject, its ALL conjecture and really doesn’t mean squat in the grand scheme of things. I hope, after he serves his time, which is fully paid btw, he will get a Maher-type show on cable where he can once again go after the right with more vim and vigor than he was allowed on MSNBC.
Excellent comment Dusty. It is important to have some clear idea of what really went down. Thanks.
I admit to being a little fed up with Olbermann. I do, however, believe that Olbermann was forced to leave MSNBC because his show became too progressive. (And I’m still pissed at NBC for canceling Law & Order. )
Once again, I’m in lazersedge’s camp. Dr. Maddow gets facts first. So do Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Mike Malloy, except no one can beat them for the best justifiable rants based on solid facts. Those three are the best in talk radio.
Comcast: Olbermann was not forced out…
And if you believe that I’ve got a bridge in Alaska I’d like to sell ya!!
He’ll go on to make a few more million doing something else. He’s a restless talent.
I can’t say that I am surprised that this happened. I had always watched Olbermann’s show but it had gotten to much like the Ed Show, i.e., too far to the left. He was no longer in a league of journalists but strictly a commentator. Unlike Maddow who goes to almost extreme lengths to verify her information, Keith often shot from the hip and was a far cry from actual news. I do still like Keith for his beliefs and hope he catches on somewhere else soon. Actually I hope he goes back to sports news where he truly very good.