Is Keith Olberman too gutsy to last?

[Jane Austin]

I've been more and more impressed with Olberman's not pulling any punches on stories. A little like Jon Stuart, except he's not a "Fake News Show".

The other day, he did a clip of Bush pretending not to know Chalaby, and then cut to the Russert Meet The Press interview where Bush said right out that Chalaby had been in his office with Patchachi (sp) and somebody else, hammering out the new constitution.

Olberman said something cute to wrap the story up, but he's the ONLY one I've seen who has called Bush on this so effectively.

How long will MSNBC put up with him?

[LittleApple81]

1. I have been telling everybody I know to watch him. His ratings

have been going up but not as fast as desired. If he gets a good audience we have more of a chance.

[Eric J in MN]

2. I think that they will keep him at least through November.

I think that they will keep him at least through November.

If Kerry wins, he'll stay.

If Bush wins, then news organzations will come under new pressure to get rid of anyone left-of-center, so who knows.

[FlashHarry]

3. I've asked that same question for a while now.

He's been much more controversial in the past, but somehow he stays on the air. Personally, I think he's the only "pundit" who's on our side (or at least not on theirs).

[gratuitous]

4. Well, we know what happened to Donahue

He had the highest ratings of any show on GENBC, but was deemed too liberal and too anti-war at a time when you needed the Hubble Telescope to find ANYTHING anti-war on TV.

Olberman should keep his resume up to date.

[Delano]

15. The problem with Donahue...

Yes, he was wrongly axed, bnut I was struck when watching that show, that his skills had deteriorated since his old talk show. He bugged his eyes out, his comments were boring and not especially insightful, and he seemed to still do many of his old mannerisms, but without the old vigor and realness. I thought his show was doomed from the beginning - I just couldn't get into it.

The same goes for whore Dennis Miller. There definitely is a rightwing audience for the kind of rhetoric he's spewing, but he's become so unbearably unfunny since his conversion, that even rightwingers don't want to listen to him. Bot of these guys' talent has left them - seems that msnbc is a sord of graveyard for has-beens...

[indigobusiness]

25. And then they are shipped to FOX NEWS

for their night of the living dead.


http://sludgereport.blogspot.com/

[PVnRT]

5. He's too smart for TV

and that's the problem. People will be scared off by intelligent discourse, and be replaced with another screaming yahoo who appeals to people's base instincts.

[KittyWampus]

8. Yes, But He Veils His Smarts With Humor

and some amount of gimmickry.

:)

[MajorFlaw]

6. Olbermann continues to impress me. While he is still probably

best known for his work as a sports reporter, he has shown a very dry sarcasm as a "news" reporter. He is polite to his guests, but he asks all the tough questions. He is obviously well educated and his cultural and historical commentary add context to content. I hope MSNBC keeps him, but even if they don't, I can't see him being out of work for very long. He's too good.

[Just Me]

7. Geez. I hope not. He's one of the few programs I still watch,...

,...from time to time.

If MSNBC put up with that wacko-freak, Savage,...Olberman should last forever!!!!

[Eric J in MN]

9. Michael Savage was only on MSNBC for a few shows,

Michael Savage was only on MSNBC for a few shows, once-a-week, before his show was cancelled.

[fujiyama]

10. They might have kept him longer

had he not called a caller a "sodomite" and told him that he should get AIDS and burn in hell.

[Still_Loves_John]

11. About Oberman

This is a little off topic, but while we're on the subject, I was watching Countdown one night, and Olberman and some guest, who he seemed to be pretty good friends with, just started ripping into Clinton, like, hardcore. It struck me as weird because I normally like Olberman so much.

Did anyone else see this? It was some segment comparing him to the cicadas.

Edited it because I'm too stupid to spell names correctly

[Jane Austin]

12. I've been traveling a lot and must have missed that.

n/t

[tcfrogs]

13. They don't call him the peripatetic Keith Olbermann for nothing

He's been with ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Net, Fox, CNBC, MSNBC since 1991. Probably has had other jobs as well, since I know he did local TV in NYC & LA at some point.

One of my all-time favorite smart-ass ESPN SportsCenter anchors, if not my favorite. Smart guy, just not the type to keep the same job for too long.

Countdown has been very entertaining, though. Hope he sticks with it.

[KharmaTrain]

14. They'll Stick With Keith & The Concept

This is the network's attempt to be "hip"...ala Anderson Cooper's deal over at CNN. It's also "dead time" as far as the network's concerned as O'Reilly & Zahn are miles ahead in viewers at that hour and the "hole" in MSNBC's eyes are in a younger audience that the other shows don't attract. Bringing in Norville is along this same thinking...counter-programming Larry King with young and "sexy" as opposed to old and comatose.

I see Olbermann's star on the rise on the network. With Birdbrain Williams gone, he's major evening news "star" there, and his numbers are among the best at the network (not saying much) and have been either steady or rising for the past year.

Also, I think he signed a long-term deal with them when he rejoined and kinda has found his niche. He got his comeuppence at Faux, where he thought he'd be the network's Costas, but they didn't want one...and got burned out at MSNBC during the Monica mess having to beat that same depressing story into the ground night after night. If anyone remembers those shows, they were among the fairest and honest coverage of the inquisition of any network show.

Personally, I enjoy watching Keith...especially his interviews and guests that are among the most interesting and entertaining anywhere. Here's hoping he's around to play Oddball for a while to come.

[Outward Bound]

16. Delete please

[Jane Austin]

17. Moi?

n/t

[Outward Bound]

18. That was rude of me, sorry

[newyawker99]

26. Hi Outward Bound!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[liberalitch]

27. Hi outward bound....

welcome to DU!
Now can you come to my house and do my dishes?
I ask all new DUers that... no takers yet but it's worth a try.

[Blue Gardener]

19. I hope it's watchable tonight

I'm afraid he'll have to devote much of the show to a Reagan "lovefest." I just can't take any more.

[Killarney]

20. He has REALLY impressed me

He's the only cable news show I will watch now.

He's the only one that's honest and dares to tell the truth. Plus, he's funny! And the Bill O'Reilly jokes are great.

Please, everyone email MSNBC and tell them how much you like his show. Also, tell your friends! We need his ratings to get better.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

22. I emailed MSNBC in his support

Right after he revealed the White House attempt to control his interview with Joe Wilson. I watch his show every chance I get.

[scrotim]

21. Yes, definitely. MSNBC will silence him soon; before the election. n/t

[Shopaholic]

23. They signed him to do the Olympics but now they've pulled him

Originally, NBC hired him to do the Olympics but last week they announced that he would not be going to Athens to cover the games for the NBC Cable networks but would instead stay with MSNBC & Countdown since it's been showing an upturn (slight) in the ratings and to do the Olympics, he'd have to be gone from Countdown for an entire month. Countdown is very much Keith's baby. He's the show's Managing Editor and writes the vast majority of the show but sadly, he's getting killed by O'Lielly in the ratings. Someone here posted once before that Keith had personally replied to an e-mail that they'd sent praising him & the show and he said that if the show got more viewer response that the network would give him even greater leeway in the direction and content of his newscasts (the addresses, by the way are [e-mail] and [e-mail]). They did have him anchoring four hours in prime on Saturday night (7 to 11) and he did an amazing job--doing four hours live, unscripted, ain't easy, but he sure made it look that way, although he did kiss a little bit too much Reagan butt for my liking. However, he did bring up the Iran-Contra mess and the Air Traffic Controller's Strike/union busting more than once, so he earned props from me for that. I say if you like the show, let the network know how you feel. The ratings are moving up and I think they'll hang on to him for the foreseeable future. I hear that Rick Kaplan, the new President of MSNBC is pretty high on Keith & Countdown.

[sampsonblk]

24. Olbermann has the best news show on TV

I rarely miss his show. His show is funny and straight (at the same time). Very good news show.