• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Keith Olbermann, ESPN Split for Second Time

Keith Olbermann is parting ways with ESPN once again.

The outspoken broadcaster will be leaving the sports network when his contract runs out at the end of July.

“Keith is a tremendous talent who has consistently done timely, entertaining and thought-provoking work since returning to ESPN,” the network said in a statement Wednesday.

“While the show’s content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction. We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavor.”

http://www.thewrap.com/keith-olbermann-espn-split-for-second-time/
 
A third incarnation of Countdown, if he can find a network willing to take him on?
 
A third incarnation of Countdown, if he can find a network willing to take him on?

Which network hasn't already hired and fired him? He's already been through CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, Current TV, and ESPN multiple times. His biggest problem is that he's... let me put this kindly... got some serious personality issues that could very well make him unemployable.
 
I always enjoyed Countdown although when Olby went nuke it was sometimes a bit difficult to take.
 
The biggest surprise here is that they didn't have to cut him loose before his contract was up. He'll possibly find something to do, most likely a podcast of some sort. He jumped the shark many years ago.
 
Which network hasn't already hired and fired him? He's already been through CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, Current TV, and ESPN multiple times. His biggest problem is that he's... let me put this kindly... got some serious personality issues that could very well make him unemployable.
Unless I'm mistaken, I think the only network Keith hasn't worked for is CBS (Who MIRACULOUSLY still has a cable sports network & an online news channel)

But even so, does Keith Olbermann even need a TV network nowadays ?? Glenn Beck (Radio show & online network) has proven he doesn't need cable news. Ditto with Rick Sanchez (Radio show), Cenk Uygur (Online show) & Dylan Ratigan (Podcast)

All of whom had cable news shows

JMO.....

Cheers & 73 :)
 
He'll possibly find something to do, most likely a podcast of some sort.

Here's what I personally would find a good format for a Keith (or Keef, as Arianna Huffington pronounces it) Olbermann podcast:

1. Whatever the major news story is (probably politics, but wouldn't have to be), starting with hard news coverage and segueing into a KO commentary
2. Sports from KO's perspective
3. A summary of other news stories, with a few remarks
4. World's Worst
5. Chat with a "celebrity" friend, or a humorous commentary ... and bring back Fridays with Thurber!

Good night and good luck ...
 
Unless I'm mistaken, I think the only network Keith hasn't worked for is CBS (Who MIRACULOUSLY still has a cable sports network & an online news channel)

...not the network, but KO was Sports Director of KCBS-TV/2 Los Angeles for a stretch circa '89...
 
None of those are likely to offer him anything and neither would FS1, CBS-SN or NBC-SN. He could try to monetize his content as Beck did, but I'm skeptical that he has enough of a committed following to make this viable.
 
I recently discontinued my DirecTV service because I get excellent reception of about 30 channels* off-the-air here in Los Angeles with the attic antenna in my building. And I reconfigured my TitanTV lineup accordingly so I have listings information for those channels. (No, so far I haven't missed a damn thing from the satellite.)

Anyway, one of the digital subchannels I get is "theworks" (KDOC/56.4), which is mostly low-budget, low-rated movie fare (I've yet to see even a 3-star rating on any of their movies) plus a couple of blocks of infomercials. Somewhere in the past several weeks, they started airing "Huff Post Live" at 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT, with three repeats over the following 24 hours and a "best of" hour twice per weekend. That got me thinking.

Maybe Keith should produce "Countdown" as an independent production and see if this diginet, or one of the others, would run it. At least he couldn't be fired, unless he fired himself.

(*-Disclaimer: One of the two PBS stations and the former PBS affiliate KCET aren't consistent in signal strength, nor is the one LPTV that I sometimes watch a subchannel on. But given that my total excludes all of the foreign-language and religious channels, I think I'm still doing pretty well, especially as I get all of the traditional networks and most of the retro channels.)
 
He could do a lot of things, but syndicating his own content is likely to lose money, although it might salve his bruised ego and anyone who might pay him to be on, would be able to pay him very little.

Beck makes money with The Blaze. I don't think Olbermann would with a similiar construct.

He certainly should have enough money to enable his being on the air if he wants to buy brokered time, but I don't see him landing a paying gig of any substance.

Then again, after Current TV went away, had someone told me ESPN would have picked him up again, I would've thought that was crazy talk and yet it happened, so anything is possible.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom