Just a couple of comments on Keith's program last night

[ThomWV]

After what seemed like an eternity Keith Olbermann returned to the air with his program "Countdown" For my taste the show is notably different and much improved.

The very first thing that I noticed was the blessed lack of background noise and flash. I'm sure its the tighter budget at Current that denuded the show of the normal Pin-Ball machine effect. You know what I mean, constant background bursts of light and sound, overly dramatic music played too loud. Well, it wasn't there last night and it sure wasn't something I wanted to see come back Keith's program last night was a serious show for serious people.

And that brings me to the second point. In the old show Keith had a bad habit of straying off point and sometimes driving a barely defensible point into the ground. Last night he kept on point and on at least two occasions brought his guest back on point. Once again, this was very pleasing to my taste, it smacked of Adult conversation, something television is greatly lacking (with appologies to Rachel, the other highlight of television reporting and commentary)

And this final one is picky, but something probably worth mentioning because its so common. At least from the Direct TV system the sound (volume) of the show was very poorly modulated. I had to keep my hand on the remote the full hour raising the volume considerably when the program was on and then cutting it by half during the commercials. That happens with a lot of programs, but not as bad as last night.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R! BTW, it's being rebroadcast right now!

Thanks for the review! :hi:

[kstewart33]

2. Thanks for the post.

It's good to hear that the firework effects are gone.

I hope Keith also turns down some of the bombast.

[valerief]

3. Yes, I noticed on my FIOS it was (1) a lower sound volume and (2) didn't have the sound effect

toolbox running.

In a movie theater, I can't watch the coming attractions because of all the booms. It's nice to see a KO's show without them, too.

[MrMickeysMom]

4. ditto... plus

I think given KO some control (plus, he reads DU, no doubt) will continue to make this good for our market.

FiOs seems to be cleaning cable up in our area via Verizon.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. I'm watching the rebroadcast and you are so right about the volume.

And this is on Time Warner. It was okay, but I really started noticing a problem with the second half. I suddenly had to turn it up, the volume was so low, and I'm the one who is always turning it down. But then when the commercials came on, it nearly knocked me out of my chair... x(

However, I am still loving the show. It's so great to have him back! :woohoo:

[Walk away]

7. I watched it on my lap top from the Current web site and it sounded fine to me. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Maybe I should try that, thanks!

BTW, love your little dog... :hi:

[Walk away]

18. That's Henry....I love your little guy too!

I work with little dogs for a living and I have three of my own.

[Logical]

6. I loved it also! It will be watched nightly!

[KharmaTrain]

8. "Cable Access Audio"...

...is what a broadcast professional who was watching last night called it. But cut 'em all some slack here. This was the first show in a brand new studio. No matter how many dress rehersals they did be assured the adreneline was running high in that studio and control room during the first broadcast.

Overall, I thought the first show went off very well. Few technical glitches for a network that had never done a newscast of this scope before. The benefit of being at MSNBC was calling upon a squadron of technical engineers at 30 Rock and in Fort Lee, NJ that monitor the signal and the millions of dollars worth of processing that is as unique to each network as is the "secret herbs and spices" are in KFC Chicken.

Keep in mind many of those behind the scenes at Current are "young pups"...and this is a very new venture. I'm hoping Keith will roll out new reporters to add some new "blood" and perspectives to the show rather than attempt to make it a carbon copy of the MSNBC show. Also to keep it on covering news events as opposed to the vanity games played between the cable channels.

Cheers...

[Little Star]

9. I loved the show but I had to jack-up the volume.

[WhiteTara]

10. He definitely didn't mess around. His tone and pace

were great. I liked that he brought MM back on topic and that it kept the pace. One hour is hard for me and I'll go back and watch the end of the broadcast today.

[Erose999]

11. Listening to the Kos interview now. Does Joey Scabs really have control of what guests are on MSN-BS

and what they are allowed to say?

I bet all the interns at MSN-BS fear for their lives...

[Erose999]

12. I always hated the sound effects, music, and the busy graphics and stuff.

Which is one (among many other reasons, of course) that I absolutely LOATHE Fox News.

The only host on TV who can pull off music/graphics/effects well is Steven Colbert. And thats because when he does it he's making fun of everyone else.

[SoCalDem]

16. I HATE all the swooshy noises..with a passion..

My only quibbles were with the poor sound quality and I wish the background was not so "busy"..

[phleshdef]

13. Good, so the volume problem wasn't just me.

That was really annoying me, but I can live with it for now. His presence should help to build the network up to afford better production quality.

Hopefully they will start pushing Current in HD sometime soon. Its hard to get use to watching it non-HD on my TV.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. And boy, there were commercials.

Since i have not had tv, and have not seen commercials for years, it was a bit of shock to see how many there were.
But
thanks to links from DU folks, I could watch the show online and simply turn the volume off on the commercials,
check back in 2-3 minutes and still catch KO.

[SoCalDem]

17. We record..and then start watching 20 minutes late

hit play & then FF through the commercials when they pop up:).. We usually arrive at "LIVE" withing the last few minutes..and have missed all the commercials:)