Olbermann Exits MSNBC, Leaving Cable News Network Without Top-Rated Host
Keith Olbermann, the television host who led MSNBC out of the cable-news cellar with a partisan approach that sometimes ruffled feathers, left the network two months after a two-day suspension.
Last night’s show was the final “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” the cable network said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Talks to end the host’s contract have been under way for awhile, said a person with knowledge of the situation.
Olbermann’s exit deprives the network of its top-rated prime-time program. The 51-year-old host clashed with his bosses in November over political donations that raised questions about advocacy and journalism. He was suspended for violating NBC News policy and reinstated after two days.
“There were many occasions, particularly in the last two and a half years, where all that surrounded the show, but never the show itself, was just too much for me,” Olbermann told the audience. “But your support and loyalty, if I may use the word, insistence, ultimately required that I keep going.”
Olbermann, who promoted his own political viewpoint on “Countdown,” also hosted MSNBC’s election-night coverage. Michael Price, his manager, didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
Led by Olbermann and other liberal voices such as Rachel Maddow, MSNBC moved past CNN into second place behind Fox News in cable-news ratings, said Brad Adgate, who oversees research at Horizon Media, an advertising company in New York.
Personality Driven
Cable viewers now tune in to see personalities such as Olbermann or Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, rather than watch the news, Adgate said. Olbermann lifted viewership for Maddow, and his departure creates uncertainty for the network, he said.
“It took MSNBC a long time to get a brand, or at least an identity,” Adgate said in an interview. “And he did that better than anyone else on the network.”
Starting Jan. 24, “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” will move to Olbermann’s 8 p.m. New York time slot from 10 p.m., MSNBC said. “The Ed Show,” hosted by Ed Schultz, will move to 10 p.m., MSNBC said. “The Rachel Maddow Show” will stay at 9 p.m.
O’Donnell, who has been on the air since September, and Schultz “have performed very well” and beaten CNN in their time periods, said Jeremy Gaines, a spokesman for the network. “There’s no intention of changing direction and these programming moves evidence that.”
Donation Flap
Olbermann’s departure coincides with a change in ownership at MSNBC, which is part of New York-based NBC Universal. Control of NBC Universal will shift to Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, from General Electric Co. next week, when Comcast plans to complete its acquisition of a majority stake.
The moves at MSNBC are unrelated to the transaction and Comcast was informed of Olbermann’s pending exit this week, after the deal won regulatory approval, Gaines said.
Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an estimated $30 million, the New York Times reported.
The host was suspended on Nov. 5 for contributing the maximum $2,400 to three Democrats. They included Arizona Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, a victim of the shooting attack in Tucson, Arizona, this month. He also donated to U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway of Kentucky, who lost to Republican Rand Paul.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Palazzo in Los Angeles at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
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