Keith Olbermann Resigns From MSNBC (Updated)

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

Source: JOE MY GOD VIA MSNBC

Moments ago, Keith Olbermann announced his resignation from MSNBC. Seconds after his show ended, this terse press release hit my inbox:

MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

UPDATE: The new MSNBC evening line-up as of Monday: 8pm Lawrence O'Donnell, 9pm Rachel Maddow, 10pm Ed Schultz.

UPDATE II: Anderson Cooper: He was FIRED.



Read more: http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/01/keith-olbermann-resigns-from-msnbc.html

[Esra Star]

1. Oh no!.....nt

[Divine Discontent]

20. Oh no! is right.... He's one of the few things I watch on TeeVee.

I will follow him to wherever he takes his talents.

He truly is inspiring and attacked the evil warmongering Constitution destroying BFEE when few dared.

His 1st 'special comment' was so awesome I made a popular thank you thread and let him know we were so happy he did it, and look how many great ones he's pulled off since then, it is amazing what great commentary he has provided against those who try to destroy this country on behalf of the elite.


I can't wait to hear more, if he let's us know.

I would LOVE an independent and well funded news and documentary network to spring up from this. So many of us would watch.

[ybbor]

47. This Sucks!

I am so bummed right now! I luckily walked into the room as he was signing off. I was shocked and couldn't believe it. I am considering dropping Comcast and going without cable and simply using an aerial! :(

[Psephos]

2. It's not exactly a resignation.

It's the end of his contract.

http://twitter.com/#!/HowardKurtz/status/28632892972212226

[niyad]

4. his contract was extended through 2012

[whathehell]

5. According to another thread here, his contract was "on" until 2012.

[tavalon]

67. Except it wasn't

It still had 2 years.

[whathehell]

3. WHY????

[Tansy_Gold]

6. Comcast n/t

[pdarkness]

7. Hmmm

They get rid of their highest rated show? Fuck you Comcast. I wonder where he will go now.

[whathehell]

9. Yes...It's no coincidence that he quoted "Network" because what

has happened to him is similar to what happened to the popular, anti-establishment Peter Finch character..n/t


This sucks BIG Time.

[Hannah Bell]

56. which network quote?

[whathehell]

59. I don't

remember exactly what was said, but he did mention the film "Network"

[Hannah Bell]

60. thanks.

[wisteria]

10. I would follow him to CNN, he would boost their ratings. n/t

[wisteria]

8. Is this because of Comcast? And, is it a sign of times to come? Comcast isn't progressive

by any means. Now we have to be concerned Comcast will begin to try and silence strong, intelligent progessive voices. If this turns out to be because of Comcast, I am going to find another internet, cable provider.

[whathehell]

12. It seems so...and yes, this is what we should do...find another cable internet provider if Comcast

won't sponser progressive voices.

[polmaven]

34. Wish I could!

There is no other choice in my area, though. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

[Grassy Knoll]

11. I hope Rachel quits, fuck this.

[whathehell]

Yes...You notice she wasn't on tonite, right?....She had Chris Hayes "fill in" for her. n/t

[tinrobot]

17. She's on Bill Maher tonight.

[whathehell]

19. Do you think that's the reason? n/t

[tinrobot]

23. I suppose we'll know that fairly soon. Set your DVR.

[whathehell]

39. Did that..n/t

[AngryOldDem]

26. Reason for what?

It was on the trailer at the end of last week's show that she was going to be on Maher tonight.

My guess is...new management cleaning house.

[pennylane100]

21. she is scheduled to be on Bill Maher tonite

Wonder what she will say.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

68. Her thoughts may be found here....

http://tv.gawker.com/5740369/watch-rachel-maddow-address-keith-olbermanns-departure-on-real-time

[ClassWarrior]

65. Yes, let's just keep marginalizing ourselves.

:eyes:

NGU.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

13. Josh Marshall, TPM} "What The Hell Was That About?"

What The Hell Was That About?

I was just on in the opening segment of Olbermann tonight. And I get home and get this press release from NBC saying this was the last episode of Countdown. At first I figured it had to be a spoof email because, jeez, I was on and I didn't have any sense that any other than a regular Friday evening show was on. But sure enough I pulled up the recording and now I'm watching his final sign off.

I doubt I would have had any heads up or known anything was happening if Olbermann was going to go off the air. But I was a bit more stunned than I might otherwise have been because I was just over there. And I did not have any sense that there was anything any different than normal going on. Everything seemed calm and pretty sedate. There were a few more people than I'm used to seeing in the studio -- maybe two or three who seemed to be there to watch. (Something I don't remember seeing before.) But nothing that made me think twice that anything odd was going on.

I'm sure we'll be hearing soon enough what on earth happened here. But color me stunned. And really disappointed.

(The text of the quite terse press release reads: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.")

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/01/what_the_hell_was_that_about.php?ref=fpblg

[jwirr]

14. Isn't Democracy Now on at 7:00 on LINK? I think I will go there.

[Odin2005]

15. FUCK COMCAST!!!

[Kajsa]

16. This is terrible!

:(

[bluedigger]

18. And MSNBC is still using him in promotions.

Just saw KO on a "Lean Forward" promo on TRMS. Are you fucking kidding me?

[bullwinkle428]

37. I noticed that one too...quite the "facepalm" moment for me.

[glinda]

41. Loved that Promo.

[Divine Discontent]

22. I hope Maddow leaves now, and then they can run LockUp 24/7.... Liberal media my Ass.

Can't wait to hear what Anderson Cooper has to say, and hopefully Keith will say something soon.

[qanda]

24. Maybe Oprah will pick him up on her network

[Swagman]

36. Oprah does seem to be able to present progressive talk in a way she that she doesn't

get attacked. If she picked up Keith she would be on a winner.

[glinda]

42. That is not her audience. They want self help feel good crap.

[Swagman]

61. I guess so

[Imagevision]

25. If Rachel doesn'r quit she will be next, Chris Mathews will calm down his reporting or he'll also

"quit"

[Blacksheep214]

27. Rachel is on Maher tonight

Maybe she can enlighten us.

[sarcasmo]

28. This is only the start of the Comcast domino effect, IMHO.

[wisteria]

31. I think you might be correct. n/t

[mvd]

44. That merger should have NEVER been allowed

Another disappointment from this administration. Comcast needs to know our outrage!

[w4rma]

52. ALL THREE of Obama's appointments to the FCC voted in favor of the merger. Bah. (nt)

[glinda]

57. Am starting to think Obama was a Conservative the whole time. These decisions

are devastating to our Constitution as well as our whole Country at times.

[Kablooie]

29. His goodbye video is on the Countdown webpage.

[krispos42]

30. What the hell?

Shit, the RW is going to orgasm over this. :cry:

[jeffedgmon]

32. It looks like the evil empire has finally gotten to MSNBC..

It will be sad not having Keith around in the evening's, he was one of the few people that told it like it was/is. Now I have to decide whether I want to completely boycott MSNBC, but I'm afraid other good people like Rachel Maddow would be hurt if I did that.

[LibDemAlways]

33. Welcome to DU! It will be interesting to see what Rachel does.

This is Comcast's way of silencing one of the few strong voices on the left. Very sad day.

[glinda]

45. Welcome to Du and the support grief group for Olbermann.

[Swagman]

35. a bad move. The silencing of progressive voices continues and the false claims of

a 'librul media' seems to be working. In the long run media corporations will lose out. The market can only survive one Faux News and the media companies have a duty to the citizens to present all sides of arguments.

The cancellation of Beck advertisers shows what it's about..talk with your wallets and abandon those who preach hate and rhetoric.

[glinda]

46. If they leave you no choices there will be no choices.

[Moostache]

38. Move to Comedy Central...

Put on Olbermann, Stewart and Colbert and I am not watching another network during the prime time hours period.

I am laying odds that Maddow is off the air within 6 months and that MSNBC begins competing with Fox to out-cheerlead the corporate choice for POTUS by November.

[alp227]

40. I'll still keep up with Maddow and Schultz. Good night and good luck KO.

Wow, he was fired? Not from the source from where I learned about KO leaving MSNBC (Broadcasting & Cable, see LBN thread). Wow.

[KatyBR]

43. "New bosses weren't going to be as tolerant..."

Commentary on Anderson 360. Comcast is a major player in the Republican Party - screamed at you when you saw the Republican Convention take place in Philadelphia. Keith's firing was a quid pro quo. There is no way that Comcast was going to put up with someone who so clearly exposed their party to be crooked, corrupt and anti-American. KO did not "leave" - he was fired. His tweets changed mid-air two hours ago. You don't give someone two days off without pay for contributing to political candidates when such a term is not in their contract,(and probably not legal if it was. The hit was part of the deal. And we are screwed unless someone starts a Petition like before. The FCC just approved the merger of Comcast and MSNBC. MSNBC knows the new bosses weren't going to be as tolerant...despite the heavy viewership, because believe you me, Comcast is a political animal.

[otohara]

48. Welcome KatyBR

nice second post

[BigBearJohn]

49. I will never again watch MSNBC

More Shit Nothing But Crap

[Youth Uprising]

50. I am shocked and extremely saddened to hear about KO's departure

He was a great inspiration to many of us. I wish him the best of luck.

[Plucketeer]

51. One more nail

in the coffin of hope. :evilfrown:



GOP JOBS PLAN

[BallardWA]

53. I love Rachel, but

she's there because of Keith. Keith was a must in our home, we only followed up with Rachel if we had the time or the inclination.

[jenmito]

54. What about 6pm? n/t

[Liberal In Texas]

55. Media consolidation. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

We'll probably be able to catch KO on the internet once in a while.

Nothings going to change until we get the monopolization of media stopped.

Good thing we have the Obama administration in power to curb this, oh wait....

[Xenotime]

58. This would be wonderful if he replaces Gibbs

[dreamnightwind]

62. It would be better if...

he replaced Obama.

[Honeycombe8]

63. I saw Cooper's show. He did NOT say KO was fired. Gotta watch those sources.

Cooper said he had no idea what happened, so he was asking three phone guests, one of whom was David Shuster.

Cooper asked if KO had been fired, but no one knew. They all agreed he COULD have been. But someone said it was no secret that KO had been looking for a new position for some time and that he was unhappy at MSNBC.

The guests also said that there was one boss at MSNBC that KO got along with and who was definitely KO's protector (I forget the guy's name). Anyway, that guy abruptly left today or yesterday, because of the Comcast deal (I can't recall if he was fired).

It's possible that KO gave notice when the one boss he liked left. And when he gave notice, the company said "Adios. You can leave now."

[EFerrari]

66. But Keith said he'd been giving a little more time to say goodbye this time

which means it wasn't his decision.

[Honeycombe8]

64. self-delete. duplicate.

[old mark]

69. Not much left on MSANBC worth watching now, back to reruns and movies...nt

[corpseratemedia]

70. comcast, silencing the spoken truth will not suppress reality

reality will not go away...your far right dictatorship reality of increasing poverty and grand theft and corruption and silencing critics and will not disappear before our eyes


We just need tens of millions to cancel the damn cable, period. sorry to see him go. No reason to watch "Exploit More Imprisoned" channel now.

[Enthusiast]

71. I am done with MSNBC.

[cleanhippie]

72. Well, I guess my MSNBC viewing time just dropped to 1 hour (Maddow)

No other reason to watch it now. What a shame.