Free Republic

With all the talk about what Keith Olbermann’s move to Current TV means for Keith, the bigger question is what it means for Current. If you’re to believe the network’s chairman Al Gore, it means a lot. Gore gave an interview to The Wrap in which he claimed that, ever since yesterday’s announcement, people have already begun looking for the channel. After talking about Olbermann’s passion and “formidable intelligence,” Gore was asked what impact Olbermann was making on the network’s subscriber numbers. From The Wrap: “Do you think he’ll create a groundswell of people asking their cable providers to make...

Former MSNBC personality Keith Olbermann has been named chief news officer on Current-TV, the cable network started by Al Gore. Olbermann will host a nightly "news" and commentary show according to the network's websitewhere he "will lead" the programming slate. "Nothing is more vital to a free America than a free media, and nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news produced independently of corporate interference," said Olbermann in statement. Olbermann's compensation will include equity in Current Media, the corporate owners of Current-TV

Industry analysts on Tuesday said the addition of Keith Olbermann will help put Current TV on the map in terms of programming, ratings and increased carriage opportunities.

Just when you thought you were going to get a vacation from Keith Olbermann, a publicist has sent out word that Keith is holding a news conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday to make an "exciting announcement" regarding the "next chapter in his remarkable career." Less than a month ago, Olbermann abruptly exited MSNBC where his "Countdown" had been the network's biggest draw. Both parties remain mum in re the circumstances of the departure. At the time of his exit, the Web site The Wrap reported Olbermann had his eye on creating a media empire like that of Huffington Post (which...

Somewhere, Keith Olbermann is smiling — or more likely, laughing his rear end off. In a week where viewers wanted breaking news, the new MSNBC prime-time lineup managed to fall back to third place. And the cable channel’s putative news program now headed by Larry O’Donnell managed to lose ground to a show so weak that its death has been widely predicted: On a week marked by a huge international story–and hefty NBC resources committed to telling it–MSNBC marked an unpleasant milestone, dropping to third place across primetime on February 1. In perhaps the most striking defeat for the network,Lawrence...

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, who refused to go silently into retirement after the network dumped him in 2005, spoke last week to a group of students at American University about the future of journalism. Rather, who held the anchor job for 24 years, told the students that the increasingly biased media will threaten the U.S. and that “A free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom.” He went on to remind the audience that shows that feature the likes of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews are opinion and not news and that the...

After a female ESPNer wrote a book, "one day," said the source, "Keith counted how many swear words were in it." He sent the results to the entire newsroom. "Why? To embarrass her? To draw attention to himself? It did not add to the workplace." In 2004 -- seven years after he left -- Olbermann was the only on-air personality excluded from SportsCenter's 25th-anniversary reunion week. His fits of pique are wearing thin. He was fired in a fury from Fox Sports in 2001. Last year, he quit writing for Daily Kos, apoplectic that an online commenter suggested he'd criticized...

The time to vomit is now. Aaron Sorkin's Cable News Drama Is A Go At HBO With Pilot Order, Scott Rudin Producing EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Sorkin's long-gestating drama set behind the scenes of a nightly cable news show is becoming a reality. HBO has closed a deal for a pilot order to the project, which reunites The Social Network writer with the movie's producer Scott Rudin. Both are executive producing the pilot, which will be filmed later this year. UPDATE: Word is the project's working title is More As the Story Develops. In his research for the show, Sorkin spent time...

MSNBC says it's ending contract with Keith Olbermann; last broadcast of 'Countdown' tonight

Keith Olbermann once put me on his nightly list of the worst people in the world. To add insult to injury, I was merely a runner-up. So I suppose I should smile now that Mr. Olbermann's career as the host of "Countdown" has at last tick-tocked to 00:00. Boom! Here was an anchor whose personality is every bit as unhinged as his politics; whose on-air epithets of choice include "prostitute," "monkey," "fascistic," "fat ass" and (about conservative pundit Michelle Malkin) "bag of meat"; who has been let go from nearly every job he ever held; and whose "childish attacks" were,...

The pledge by the Washington Post's Dana Milbank to ignore Sarah Palin for the month of February has caused the Hollywood Reporter to run the numbers on the former Alaska governor on her mentions in the media. The results are, mildly speaking, breathtaking. That is especially true considering that Palin holds no elected or appointed office and has not yet announced to run for any. Not surprisingly, MSNBC, the liberal alternative network, turns out to be most obsessed with Palin, even exceeding Fox News, for which Palin works as a news analyst. Keith Olbermann has mentioned Palin on 320 segments...

On Friday, Keith Olbermann dropped a bomb on the media world when he announced that his nearly eight-year stint at MSNBC was coming to an abrupt end. Although the complete details haven’t been revealed, some have suggested Olbermann was pushed out by management at NBC Universal. However, due to Olbermann’s surprise departure, media watchers were waiting to see how his MSNBC colleagues would react to the news, particularly “The Rachel Maddow Show” host Rachel Maddow, who has said she owed her spot on the network to Olbermann. Initially Maddow pled ignorance immediately following the announcement on HBO’s Friday broadcast of...

If you were going to replace Keith Olbermann who would be the first name to pop your lips? See it isn't as easy as it sounds. The first name reportedly on MSNBC lips is Alec Baldwin, according to Rob Shuter at PopEater. "He's already part of the NBC family, has a huge fan base and is very respected for his long term passions for politics." He's also good on TV and has wide name recognition. And the fact is MSNBC is going to need a shot in the lineup arm at sooner than later, so maybe it's not a surprise...

Rep. Michele Bachmann made history tonight–not just for being the first representative of the Tea Party to give a State of the Union response, but also for flatly refusing to look America in the eye. Bachmann, who came equipped with charts and Iwo Jima photos, began her speech looking slightly off camera. As Bachmann spoke, viewers–including the former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann–took to Twitter to ask a simple question: “what’s she looking at?” As Olbermann tweeted, “Why isn’t Rep. Bachmann LOOKING AT THE DAMNED CAMERA?” He added later, “Seriously, somebody at the Tea Party needs to run on the stage,...

There is too much Keef Grief in DUmmieland for any one DUFU to cover! Indeed, this could be a multiple DUFU day! (And then there's the SOTU tonight.) The Meltdown continues, and in this edition, we'll sample from a number of Olbie threads, starting with this THREAD, "Olbermann Out At MSNBC." So let us return to the Keef Grief Support Group, otherwise known as DUmmieland, in Bolshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson--willing to take Keef on as our DUmmie FUnnies intern/gofer, but would have to clear it with PJ and the Beaver--is in...

It's . . . TEOTWAWKI !!!!!! OMG OMG OMG !!! Keef has been FIRED!!!!! OH NOES!! The canning of Keith Olbermann Friday night came like a swift punch to the solar plexus. The DUmmies were KO'd! They were devastated! Overwhelming Keef Grief! Elisabeth Kübler-Ross would have a field day with these folks. (BTW, why can they never get to "acceptance"?) Their initial denial quickly turned to anger, of course--these are the DUmmies we're talking about. They're AS MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! It's a KOmkast KOnspiracy! Bush's fault! Rove! Palin! Fox! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!! The fact...

Keith Olbermann scored an even sweeter exit package than previously reported. Sources connected with NBC tell us Keith is pocketing "well in excess" of $7 million. Sources tell us ... Olbermann was due for two salary hikes during the last two years of his contract, which would have netted him just over $17 million. The exit deal, we're told, gives Keith much more than $7 million, though our sources would not be more specific. And we're told ... Olbermann agreed as part of his exit deal not to do television, but our sources say he'll be benched for less than...

On the weekend the Green Bay Packers made their way to their first Super Bowl after parting ways with their most prolific—and most tearful—quarterback after deciding his squirrelly act was just too much hassle, MSNBC also called it quits with their top-rated screamer, just as new owners may be moving the network in a new direction. But even I have to admit that Keith Olbermann’s goodbye was classier—not to mention more manly-- than (any) of Brett Favre’s. And as I pointed out in an earlier post, once again Keith Olbermann has made his biggest news by the fact that he...

In the News & Opinion & Entertainment Media, the fringe lunacy represented by Beck, O’Reilly, Palin, Limbaugh et. al etc. or America’s Ministry of Disinformation & Propaganda had ONE MAN who was successfully able to cross their signals, get up in their face and get a wide swath of this country not simply to understand how truly ridiculous, dangerous and often manipulative was their rhetoric but also empowered the sleeping to get up and take them on. That one person with all due respect was not Steven Colbert nor was it Jon Stewart on The Daily Show or even Rachel...

If there was some strange parallel universe in which Keith Olbermann and I were members of Congress, I suspect we would vote together about 99 percent of the time. But when the "Countdown" host announced his abrupt departure from MSNBC on Friday night, I felt only relief. First reactions to Olbermann’s exit have broken along lines as partisan as they were predictable. That the New York Post would respond to the news with glee and The Huffington Post with a gnashing of teeth was hardly a shock. But back in the real world, I cannot imagine I am the only...