Guest EXPAT Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 TMZ is reporting that he was fired. I think that since the official take over doesn't happen until next week, that they did a pre-emptive strike regarding the probable desire of the Comcast CEO to get rid of Olbermann. Just like most CEO's he is probably very conservative and doesn't like the way Keith plays in the sandbox. The rumor is that Keith was paid off his $7 million a year salary for 2 years with a six month non-compete agreement. Then he will pop up somewhere else. I've said before that the Comcast /NBC Universal merger is a disaster in the making and clearly the DOJ and the FCC will just do whatever corporate america wants them to do now instead of what's right. Quote
Members TampaYankee Posted January 22, 2011 Members Posted January 22, 2011 I suspect that management intiated the action at this time. Whether it was a firing or not depends on what one thinks that means. I view firing as an involuntary separation, against the employee's will. In this case, I suspect that Olbermann was ready to go. I think he had been close to quitting in the recent past. I suspect he saw no chance for better relations with management after the merger. I don't think he was averse to a change at this time, under the right conditions. Better to walk away with his contract payoff than to quit and have to sit out anyway without the benefits. Yes, this merger is very bad for viewers and just another example of how business pretty much runs the system. Obama is sucking up to corporate America in anticipation of the next election. It's the way American politics works. It sucks. He wants to win. I want him to win. It sucks. That is the American way. Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 "Change of control" always creates opportunities for exits in corporations for executives who "see the writing on the wall" with the new management. It's better to negotiate your exit with the old management than the new management. Chances are you get a better deal because they won't care about the financial consequences of that deal. I've seen it all the time in the corporate world. it happened to me in fact during a corporate change of control situation. Quote
Guest Conway Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 Olbermann has been a corporate bite the hand that feeds him type for many years now. He was fired from ESPN after he created a public donnybrook between himself and management over management's criticism of his unauthorized appearances on The Daily Show back when Craig Kilborn hosted it. He was fired from Fox Sports for reporting Insider Information with regard to the Dodgers who shared ownership with Fox Sports. He has had his battles with MSNBC management for years. Hell, they suspended him for making political donations that violated the company's ethical code of conduct just a few months ago.The sale to Comcast didn't create the problems that had existed for quite a while. The bottom line is that his rating sucked at MSNBC. He was their prime personality and his rating trailed 5 or 6 Fox News shows pretty much every month for at least the last three years. He has always view himself as someone above the rules- not an unusual position for overly smug left wingers. IMO, he probably won't work in any mainstream media outlet again. he has burned too many bridges and produced too few results for the people that he has worked for. Comcast recognizes, with MSNBC and Fox News as its examples, that there are far more advertising dollars to be had in a more right centrist approach than there are to be had cultivating product sales to angry socialists with lower middle class incomes. MSNBC has failed in the rating war with Fox because there's simply is not much interest in the extreme rhetoric that the MSNBC miscreants regurgitated daily. Hopefully Madcow and that screaming imbecile Ed guy are next. Quote
Guest Conway Posted January 22, 2011 Posted January 22, 2011 Here are the ratings (from Drudge) for Olbermann's last night on the air: FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,918,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,079,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 1,786,000 FOXNEWS BECK 1,780,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 1,460,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,106,000 CNN PIERS 1,025,000 MSNBC MADDOW 976,000 MSNBC O'DONNELL 855,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 760,000 CNN COOPER 740,000 Quote
Guest zipperzone Posted January 23, 2011 Posted January 23, 2011 Here are the ratings (from Drudge) for Olbermann's last night on the air: FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,918,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,079,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 1,786,000 FOXNEWS BECK 1,780,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 1,460,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,106,000 CNN PIERS 1,025,000 MSNBC MADDOW 976,000 MSNBC O'DONNELL 855,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 760,000 CNN COOPER 740,000 Cooper may be at the bottom of the pile but he sure is the prettiest. I hope his contract with CNN is iron tight (Not that he needs the $$$) Quote
Members JKane Posted January 25, 2011 Members Posted January 25, 2011 I'm surprised how badly Cooper is doing too, but then all of CNN is, so why not him? It's still hard for me to believe corporate interests axed a networks not-only top rated personality but one their very identity was based on! The one that gave them Maddow too. Usually Republicans hold their nose as long as they're making money on something, no matter how much it goes against their value$. Simpsons on Fox, for example... So what are they replacing him with? Forgot to look yesterday. I didn't watch him regularly and thought he sometimes went a bit too far, but I strongly feel the range and quality of debate is lessened without him staking out the equal and opposite position of Bill-o the clown. Quote
Members JKane Posted January 25, 2011 Members Posted January 25, 2011 Thank you Keith Olbermann. Quote
Members ihpguy Posted January 25, 2011 Members Posted January 25, 2011 6-9 months of forced silence and 14 million reasons to keep quiet? I think not so bad. I'd shut the fuck up for that amount. Even just one percent, pretty please? Quote
Guest twinklover Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 I'm surprised by these ratings. I knew he had the highest rating of the MSNBC shows but I didn't realize how far MSNBC and CNN lag behind Fox, including Hannity and Greta. I think Rachel Maddow and O'Reilly are the most provocative and entertaining and I enjoy their interactions with guests. Glen Beck often only engages in rabble-rousing commentary parroting right-wing conspiracy books. I'm shocked he's on a major tv or cable news network. Quote
Guest Conway Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 I'm surprised by these ratings. I knew he had the highest rating of the MSNBC shows but I didn't realize how far MSNBC and CNN lag behind Fox, including Hannity and Greta. I think Rachel Maddow and O'Reilly are the most provocative and entertaining and I enjoy their interactions with guests. Glen Beck often only engages in rabble-rousing commentary parroting right-wing conspiracy books. I'm shocked he's on a major tv or cable news network. For years, i always liked Chris Matthews. He was a real newsman. Great in confrontational interviews (much like O'reilly) It seems though that the MSNBC demographic wasn't interested anymore in his style of interviewing They seem to favor instead, a steady stream of single mindedness. I think that's why their ratings suffer. Quote
Guest twinklover Posted February 2, 2011 Posted February 2, 2011 I miss Chris Matthews too. Another good but much older show was Crossfire. Bill Buckley in Firing Line also never hesitated to take on a guest he disagreed with. The Firing Line debates were very informative as well as entertaining. It would be delightful to see this level of discourse and real debate return. Quote
