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What Will Keith Olbermann Do Next?

Jessika Walsten |
January 22, 2011 | 9:53 a.m. PST

Deputy Editor

Keith Olbermann (Image via Creative Commons)
Keith Olbermann (Image via Creative Commons)
A day after Keith Olbermann abruptly announced his departure from the MSNBC show "Countdown,"  the internet is abuzz with speculation about his next move.

Tim Goodman from the Hollywood Reporter suggested he consider a range of options from Fox (yeah, you read that right) to PBS to the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Tom Buckley in The Examiner writes:

Some DC news insiders speculate that Olbermann just might land at CNN.   The network's primetime is in a shambles; Spitzer-Parker is on life support, Piers Morgan continues to shed viewers more each night, and Anderson Cooper has turned his attention to a new syndicated show starting this fall.  Keith just might be the spark to light a comeback at CNN.

TMZ has even gotten in on the media frenzy, reporting sources close to the situation say Olbermann's next move will be to the internet because his exit deal stipulates he can't appear on television for a period of time.

Olbermann, who hosted "Countdown" since 2003, has had a tumultuous relationship with MSNBC management. Tension especially increased in November when he was suspended for making campaign contributions in 2010 to several Democratic candidates.

Bill Carter writes in the New York Times: "Mr. Olbermann’s outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives."

NBC is in the middle of a takeover by Comcast, and some have suggested that the merger may be partially to blame for Olbermann's sudden departure. But both NBC Universal and Comcast insist the deal has nothing to do with the liberal host.

Comcast said in a statement released Friday night: “Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. 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.”

Olbermann gave no reason for his leaving "Countdown." But he did have this to say on his final broadcast Friday evening: "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. With your support and loyalty, and if I may use the word insistence, ultimately required that I keep going. My gratitude to you is boundless."

Watch Olbermann's final "Countdown" words here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
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