Does anyone have something more than a fervent belief that Comcast fired KO?

[Recursion]

The merger isn't complete yet. Comcast has repeatedly said they aren't going to have any input until the merger is complete. Keith didn't mention Comcast. Deadline ran the story that it was a contract dispute. Keith has a history of pissing off the people he works for and losing his job over it.

Does anybody have any actual evidence or sources that Comcast had anything to do with this?

[bluestateguy]

1. While I believe he was fired by Comcast

I am willing to be persuaded otherwise by the evidence, if such evidence materializes.

[Recursion]

2. I'm not denying it was Comcast

I'm saying there are a lot of plausible stories here, not all of which involve Comcast.

[EV_Ares]

3. I think you are correct in saying it is nothing more than a belief at this point and

I too believe Comcast had a hand in it because of their corporate history, because of their hard and generous support of the right. Other than that we/I do not know factually what took place. I am just hoping that we will still have Keith's voice somewhere speaking out for us as we certainly do not have an over abundance of voices like his unafraid to speak the truth.

[drm604]

4. If it was Comcast then why is Rachel Maddow still on?

Not that I'd find it hard to believe that Comcast was behind it but, if they fired him for political reasons then why didn't they also fire Maddow?

[WCGreen]

5. That's my point...

Rachel is far more liberal than KO...

[EFerrari]

8. And she's also more of a team player. n/t

[billybob537]

6. methinks money talks.

I'll bet they cought him shopping contracts on the open market.

[EFerrari]

7. You mean, besides the fact that Comcast is flooding the media with denials?

:)

[tigereye]

9. hmm he seems to like a bit of drama in his contract nego-

tiations. :shrug: I really don't think politics is the answer here.

[aquart]

10. LOL!

Well, when you forecast rain and it rains, maybe it's just a coincidence and the sky just decided to open up, but maybe it's that lousy weather system you've been following for weeks.

The people here are pretty good storm trackers.

Just like I feel reasonably confident that the appearance of Blackwater's Erik Prince in Somalia will increase the number of mass graves in Somalia.

Juries don't always have all the dots connected, but they are asked to vote anyway.

Eventually, the gags will be removed and people will write their books and you'll have something you can finally believe. But ComCast's character is not unknown NOW.

[KittyWampus]

12. DU'ers are good storm trackers? How many times did we attack Iran? LOL

[Bluenorthwest]

11. The idea is kind of silly actually

From the language used by the two parties, my guess is that KO initiated the exit. The mechanisms of such things are such that I assume it was a process covering many weeks if not months.
I expect the line up to continue as is, and I think KO remained longer than he'd have liked to help get that talent in place.
Basic cable is not the place anyone sets out to spend a career. It is limited, limiting, and it would get stale. Most talented people do not want to spend a lifetime at the same level unless that level is the top one. There are a variety of television options for a man like KO, all of which sound better to me than doing the same thing for too long, for too little.

[Samantha]

13. I have no facts but there is this

There are only a handful of personalities on television that I think are actually stellar. In the entertainment arena, I have often thought over the past few years Vincent D'Onofrio is in a class by himself. I equate him with our generation's Raymond Burr in terms of stature; in terms of pure raw ability, perhaps better. I could not believe he was offered only half his salary to continue in the show, "Law and Order Criminal Intent." When he refused that offer, he was replaced. I felt at the time, COMCAST was flexing its muscle with salaries of popular shows in order to cut costs. Other cast members declined that same offer. While the show continues, the quality is just not there. Good news for COMCAST, however; it costs NBC a lot less to produce. And if the fan base is unhappy, oh, well.

Keith Olbermann I also consider to be in a class by himself. The roots of some of the stories following his departure seem grounded in a report he felt he was underpaid. His agent, in negotiating on his behalf, asked for more. MSNBC declined to offer more. Negotiations to discontinue the contract followed and were finally concluded Friday. Exit Keith Olbermann.

IN Law and Order CI, the D'Onofrio replacement was already warming up in the bullpen. That would be Jeff Goldblum. In the MSNBC lineup, the Olbermann replacement was already warming up in the bullpen. That was Lawrence O'Donnell. Neither replacement makes the same money as the original player.

And then there was the Tonight Show debacle.

Looking at several at first seemingly separate incidents over the recent past since it has become widely accepted COMCAST and NBC would merge, and thinking about the cost of that merger, and the political bent of the entity doing the purchasing, there seems to have been in pattern in play that one observes in the general labor market today. "I don't need the best help I can get; just give me a body."

Coincidence, I don't think so .... Comcast just cares about its bottom line; delivering quality to its customers is not a priority.

[Azathoth]

14. Comcast didn't fire him

They don't have control over NBC yet. The simple truth is that Olbermann was already on thin ground with existing management, and everyone (including him, I think) realized that things could only get worse once Comcast actually did take over.

Regardless of who proposed the idea first, I think Keith came to the conclusion that he wanted out, and I think MSNBC was glad to get rid of him.

[KittyWampus]

16. Or maybe the simple answer is the truth- he didn't get even more money he was demanding.

[bluestate10]

20. That won't wash on DU. Even if it is the truth. For some, there has to be a conspiracy to silence

Olbermann. How sad is that? :-(.

[Azathoth]

21. I doubt that was the only motivation

If his only motivation was to get more money, he would have done what all the other talent does -- he would have threatened to move to another network, put up a fuss, and got his audience worked up so as to put pressure on the suits to negotiate a higher salary. Howard Stern does it every time his contract comes up.

Instead, Olbermann agreed to a non-compete clause and abruptly jumped ship right in the middle of what was already a fairly lucrative contract. That sounds to me like someone who is eager to get out.

[Loge23]

19. Quite plausible

But! To address the OP's idea:
I probably have an even more fervent belief that Comcast isn't involved!
I mean, I have to have some hope!

[KittyWampus]

15. I have the FACT that Cenk, Lawrence & Rachel are still on.

[bluestate10]

17. Cenk Uygur is a liberal fire-breather.

I don't see any executive that wants MSNBC to go right bringing Uygur in and potentially making him permanent. The desire to go right claim flies in the face of logic. Looks like what MSNBC wants with moving Ed is to have liberal bookends in it's lineup. The only right slots were 6pm and 10pm. Rachel is liberal, but not as left as Schultz and Uygur. O'Donnell is moderate-liberal with Matthews being moderate-mild left, Rattigan is moderate. To have Schultz and Uygur bookending would not work too well. BTW, even with him being on at 10pm, Schultz is likely to tape his shows during the afternoon in studio and likely be in bed when his show comes on.

[bluestate10]

18. The critics have missed all types of signals.

In the unlikely event that Comcast was involved, how does the critics explain how a chairman that gives heavily to liberal and moderate democrats and the democratic party would impale a liberal broadcasting icon? The people complaining should research the political contributions of Brian Roberts, he has given to republicans, but gives more to democrats.