Olbermann, MSNBC part ways (Hate to see him go but he became too harsh and too self important thinking he was more important than the issues in fact becoming the same for the left as the extreme right in style and too absolute on issues)

Keith Olbermann took an unexpected bow from MSNBC on Friday, announcing on air in the last 10 minutes of his show that it would be his final episode of “Countdown.”

The departure was a stealth move, MSNBC insiders told POLITICO, with many top executives and on-air personalities kept out of the loop as the decision was made. It came, one insider said, “Out of the … blue!”

“This will be the last edition of ‘Countdown’,” Olbermann said at about 8:50 as he led into his final commercial break. “I will explain that, next.”

Neither MSNBC nor Olbermann offered a reason for the departure, but several sources close to the situation said its roots lay in Olbermann’s defiant reaction to being suspended after POLITICO discovered that he had donated to Democratic candidates without telling his bosses.

Although Olbermann’s political leanings were quite clear, the move violated NBC policy, and Olbermann’s response angered NBC News President Steve Capus in particular, according to former MSNBC anchor David Shuster.

“It’s no secret that Steve was particularly upset – justifiably so – with how he handled the suspension,” he said in an interview with Anderson Cooper.

On air, Olbermann hinted that he had just learned of the end of his show Friday, and suggested his departure was not voluntary. “I think the same fantasy popped into the head of everybody in my business who has ever been told what I have been told: this will be the last edition of your show,” he said.

“You go to the scene from the movie ‘Network,’ complete with the pajamas and the raincoat, and go off on a verbal journey of unutterable vision and you insist upon Peter Finch’s gutteral resonance and you will the viewer to go to the window, open it, stick out his head and yell,” he continued. “You know the rest. In the mundane world of television goodbyes, reality is laughably uncooperative.”

“Good night and good luck,” he said, quoting Edward R. Murrow, as he signed off for a final time.

Olbermann had two years left on the four-year, $30 million contract he signed in 2008. Insiders said discussions about his departure had been going on for some time.

The end of Olbermann’s contract coincided with the departure of NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker, three days after Comcast’s takeover of a majority share in the company was approved by the U.S. government.

Cooper opened his CNN show with the story, noting that the move was so sudden that some at MSNBC didn’t appear to get the memo as promos for this show were still airing after his final signoff.

He said his sources blamed the fallout from the merger and Zucker’s departure. Zucker was widely viewed as Olbermann’s “protector,” as Cooper put it.

Comcast distanced itself from any notion that it had something to do with the decision, releasing a midnight statement saying it had not yet closed its transaction with NBC Universal and so does not yet have operational control.

“We pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not interfere with NBCU’s news operations. We have not and we will not.”

While sources within MSNBC pushed back against the speculation that Comcast wanted Olbermann to leave for ideological reasons, many who worked with the cable network said Olbermann’s fiery personality was likely to run afoul of his new corporate bosses sooner or later, anyway.

A former sports journalist who made his name on ESPN — from which he also made an abrupt departure — Olbermann began hosting “Countdown” in March 2003. He had a famously fraught relationship with MSNBC executives. As the earner of the networks’ highest ratings, he wielded great influence, and sometimes clashed with MSNBC President Phil Griffin.


Griffin, who has known Olbermann for three decades, told New York magazine that “it’s always complex because of management and Keith.”

Their relationship hit a particularly rough spot after POLITICO reported that Olbermann had made political donations to three Democratic candidates without alerting his bosses, a move that violated NBC policy. He was suspended briefly, but was somewhat defiant about the affair, apologizing to his viewers but not his employer.

“You should also know that I did not attempt to keep any of these political contributions secret; I knew they would be known to you and the rest of the public. I did not make them through a relative, friend, corporation, PAC, or any other intermediary, and I did not blame them on some kind of convenient ‘mistake’ by their recipients,” he said at the time. “When a website contacted NBC about one of the donations, I immediately volunteered that there were in fact three of them; and contrary to much of the subsequent reporting, I immediately volunteered to explain all this, on-air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.”

MSNBC confirmed Olbermann’s departure in a brief statement released just before 9 p.m. ET, as Olbermann wrapped up his on-air farewell. “MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract,” the statement said. “The last broadcast of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ will be this evening.

The network said it “thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”

In a second statement, Griffin announced a reshaped primetime lineup that will begin Monday. “The Last Word With Laurence O’Donnell” will move two hours earlier to 8 p.m., “The Rachel Maddow Show” will continue to air at 9 p.m. and “The Ed Show” will move to 10 p.m. Cenk Ungur will fill in as the host of the 6 p.m. hour.

As the personality that led MSNBC into the progressive brand it recently embraced with its “Lean Forward” advertising campaign, Olbermann was the flagship liberal voice in the country, and the news of his departure was met with statements of support from the left.

“For nearly eight years, Countdown with Keith Olbermann led the charge against conservative misinformation in prime time. He was one of the few voices in the media willing to hold the Bush administration accountable and fight the right-wing smears against progressives and their policies,” said David Brock, the CEO of liberal watchdog Media Matters.

“Keith is an innovator and an extremely talented broadcaster who showed there was a market for progressive views on cable news. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him soon, and I eagerly await hearing of his next move. And on this evening, I wish him ‘good night and good luck’.”

Meanwhile, conservatives reveled in the moment. Andrew Breitbart responded with a one-word tweet: “OVERMANN.”

© 2011 Capitol News