# What does Olbermann leaving MSNBC say **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 26, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003 "2011-01-26T01:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freemal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@freemal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freemal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/1 "2011-01-26T01:55:31Z")
Keith Olbermann recently left MSNBC. I have heard a few speculated reasons for this including the aquisition of NBC by Comcast and butting heads with NBC executives who wanted him to tone down the rhetoric. What I find interesting is that his show was the highest rated show on MSNBC and he was still let go. What message does this send to other liberal commentators? Also, many conservative commentators such as Beck, Limbaugh, O’ Reilly, etc are routinely more vitriolic than Olbermann was at his worst. Example, Glenn Beck performing a dinner routine with a staff member wearing a Nancy Pelosi mask in which he pours a bottle of wine marked poison into her glass. Is the example set by Olbermann leaving, don’t get to passsionate about your topic no matter what your rating we’ll get rid of you. Are other liberal commentators going the be hamstrung while conservative commentators are allowed to be as outrageious as they want? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/2 "2011-01-26T02:04:05Z")
Olbermann is a jerk, hard to work with, and so flakey sometimes about whether or not he was gonna show up for work that a stand-by host had to be kept handy just in case. He’s been fired from just about every network job that he’s ever had. I think the message is: “Don’t be a jerk” and “No one is indispensible”. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/3 "2011-01-26T02:59:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Olbermann is a jerk … He may have been a jerk, but he did not lie, and when he was wrong he admitted it. That cannot be said for Limbaugh, O’Reilly or Beck who excel at it. His left-wing approach was not palatable to the new right-wing bosses at Comcast so he had to go. Olbermann wasn’t a pretty face, either. As [a new study has confirmed bimbo talking heads may bring in ratings, but the average bimbo watcher is less informed](http://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-male-viewers-retain-less-information-when-watching-sexy-female-news-anchors-2011-1). > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …and so flakey sometimes about whether or not he was gonna show up for work that a stand-by host had to be kept handy just in case. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/4 "2011-01-26T03:04:51Z")
\*\*What does Olbermann leaving MSNBC say \*\* “Good-bye,” I’d assume. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/5 "2011-01-26T03:27:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > He’s been fired from just about every network job that he’s ever had. I don’t if _fired_ is the correct word, but he certainly made himself persona non grata. I believe one of his former bosses at ESPN said, “he didn’t just burn bridges – he napalmed them”. I liked watching Keith Olbermann initially, but from what I’ve read, the guy was hell to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/6 "2011-01-26T03:47:58Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > He may have been a jerk, but he did not lie, and when he was wrong he admitted it. That cannot be said for Limbaugh, O’Reilly or Beck who excel at it. His left-wing approach was not palatable to the new right-wing bosses at Comcast so he had to go. Olbermann wasn’t a pretty face, either. As [a new study has confirmed bimbo talking heads may bring in ratings, but the average bimbo watcher is less informed](http://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-male-viewers-retain-less-information-when-watching-sexy-female-news-anchors-2011-1). I think you’re misunderstanding what I meant by my “jerk” remark. I didn’t mean he was a jerk on air (though clearly I think he is), I meant that he is a jerk as a person. And since we’re playing cite tag, how’s about you post one to the effect that Comcast forced him out? Oh, yeah, and as far as bimbo talking heads go, I wouldn’t know as I don’t watch Fox. > [@Duckster](#): > > Cite? Would the _New York Times_ suffice? > [@](#): > > Inside the offices of MSNBC, staff members grew more restive about Mr. Olbermann’s temperament. Some days Mr. Olbermann threatened not to come to work at all and a substitute anchor had to be notified to be on standby. [Cite](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Olbermann-Split-Came-After-nytimes-1193034728.html?x=0&cmtnav=/mwphucmtgetnojspage/headcontent/main/1193034728//date/desc/11/s3527109) ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/7 "2011-01-26T03:49:17Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > He may have been a jerk, but he did not lie, and when he was wrong he admitted it. That cannot be said for Limbaugh, O’Reilly or Beck who excel at it. His left-wing approach was not palatable to the new right-wing bosses at Comcast so he had to go. Olbermann wasn’t a pretty face, either. As [a new study has confirmed bimbo talking heads may bring in ratings, but the average bimbo watcher is less informed](http://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-male-viewers-retain-less-information-when-watching-sexy-female-news-anchors-2011-1). > > Cite? I think it’s extremely unlikely that his political views or the comcast takeover had anything to do with Olbermann and MSNBC parting ways. If Olbermann was replaced either by a right-wing talking head or a centrist I’d agree with you, but he’s being replaced by Lawrence O’Donnell, a self-described socialist, who, if anything, is even more left-wing than Olbermann. In some ways I think he was a victim of his own success because without him O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz never would have gotten shows and the success of Maddow and O’Donnell(particularly Maddow) probably convinced the bosses they could get rid of him. I should add, I am surprised that the bosses let him go since he’s the guy who built MSNBC up, dramatically changed the way network broadcasting is seen(for better or worse) and had their highest rated show, though Maddow was almost as successful. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/8 "2011-01-26T04:06:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Olbermann is a jerk, hard to work with, and so flakey sometimes about whether or not he was gonna show up for work that a stand-by host had to be kept handy just in case. He’s been fired from just about every network job that he’s ever had. > > I think the message is: “Don’t be a jerk” and “No one is indispensible”. This. His firing appears to have little to do with his personal politics and everything to with him being a real ass to work with. And in an industry filled with self-important asses, the fact that he stood out is saying quite a bit. He also made a habit of pissing off the wrong people at whatever company he was working at. Also from the NYT article you cited in another post above: > [@](#): > > The pattern of great promise followed by eventual disaffection was established early in Mr. Olbermann’s career. As a young sports reporter for UPI Television, he was fired for telling his boss “this is the minor leagues here.” In the early 1980s, he had a short, stormy tenure at CNN. > > He achieved national prominence on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” in the early 1990s, but left after a difficult time that included a reprimand for making an appearance on “The Daily Show” without permission. He labeled his departure from ESPN in 1997 a “nuclear war.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/9 "2011-01-26T04:18:49Z")
It says that Keith Olbermann might be good at what he does (if you’re into that kind of thing - I’m not), but that he’s extremely hard to work with and that being his boss is the kind of thing you might wish on your worst enemy. I’m skeptical that Comcast would demand MSNBC fire its most popular personality, and there were signs of trouble between Olbermann and the network for a long time: that New Yorker profile reveals some of them, and his suspension for political contributions in 2010 was another. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/10 "2011-01-26T05:58:06Z")
Well, I sit corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/11 "2011-01-26T06:30:37Z")
Still, I think Olbermann will probably land on his feet again. He has proven he can draw a certain number of viewers and I would imagine that somewhere some executive with dollar signs in his eyes and will hire Olbermann and then leave it up to his unfortunate flunkies to to deal with him on a day-to-day basis, until eventually he has to fire him as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/12 "2011-01-26T06:43:35Z")
He agreed to stay off the air for a while as part of his settlement with MSNBC - six to nine months, I heard, but I don’t know if that includes plying his trade on a blog or a podcast or something. After that expires, yes, I figure he’ll be back on TV pretty soon. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/13 "2011-01-26T10:31:21Z")
I bet this will only help Olbermann’s career in the long run. “MSNBC couldn’t handle the truth”, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/14 "2011-01-26T14:06:33Z")
‘The Week’ often provides a good range of opinions from the media; this topic is no different: [Why Keith Olbermann left MSNBC: 5 theories](http://theweek.com/article/index/211363/why-keith-olbermann-left-msnbc-5-theories). Contrary to the OP, I don’t think it necessarily says anything to “other liberal commentators”, as I’m unconvinced his leaving had anything to do with him being liberal. Nor am I convinced that he was ‘let go’ and didn’t leave because he was burned out, or thought he could do better elsewhere, etc… ---
**Author:** ![freemal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@freemal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freemal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/15 "2011-01-26T16:01:15Z")
> [@Digital\_Stimulus](#): > > ‘The Week’ often provides a good range of opinions from the media; this topic is no different: [Why Keith Olbermann left MSNBC: 5 theories](http://theweek.com/article/index/211363/why-keith-olbermann-left-msnbc-5-theories). > > Contrary to the OP, I don’t think it necessarily says anything to “other liberal commentators”, as I’m unconvinced his leaving had anything to do with him being liberal. Nor am I convinced that he was ‘let go’ and didn’t leave because he was burned out, or thought he could do better elsewhere, etc… Thanks for the link to The Week. Several of the possibilities do express that Olbermann’s liberal views my have played a role in his departure either from his standpoint or those of his bosses. ---
**Author:** ![freemal2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@freemal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freemal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/16 "2011-01-26T16:03:33Z")
The general consensus seems to be that Olbermann was a prima donna. But Beck and Limbaugh do not strike me as shrinking violets either. Is it ok to be a conservative prima donna but not a liberal one. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/17 "2011-01-26T16:19:20Z")
As I understand it Olbermann still had 2 years left on his contract. Whether MSNBC asked him to leave or he asked MSNBC to leave I do not know (and apparently part of the agreement to let him go is to not talk about it) but apparently both had to come to an agreement to undo the contract. Apparently he is a pain in the ass to work with but then a lot of TV personalities are prima donna assholes. Here is [Bill O’Reilly flipping out on his staff](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY) (an oldie but a goodie). I am not going for a tit-for-tat here, just noting people in these positions seem prone to hyperactive egos (regardless of their politics) and some kind of god complex. So, I am not sure what MSNBC would expect. This stuff seems tolerated when the prima donna is your #1 person on the network and making you money which Olbermann was. No doubt it sucks working with those people but par for the course in that job it seems. I also saw the thing that he cannot be on TV for 6-9 months as part of the agreement but I believe he is allowed to tweet and blog and such. ---
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/18 "2011-01-26T16:23:24Z")
I don’t think Limbaugh has a boss per se. He has a deal with a Clear Channel entity that’s the syndicator of his “entertainment product”. No idea about Beck’s deal with Fox. But it’s interesting to recall the dramatic change in his presentation when he switched from CNN to Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/19 "2011-01-26T16:24:46Z")
> [@freemal2](#): > > The general consensus seems to be that Olbermann was a prima donna. But Beck and Limbaugh do not strike me as shrinking violets either. Is it ok to be a conservative prima donna but not a liberal one. And this board continues to wonder why some of the conservative posters feel necessary to bring up “liberal” examples to illustrate the fact that ‘the other side does it’ Bringing up conservative examples in this case is a bad logical reach. Olbermann is his own person, let him stand on his own merit. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003/20 "2011-01-26T16:38:21Z")
> [@freemal2](#): > > Thanks for the link to The Week. Several of the possibilities do express that Olbermann’s liberal views my have played a role in his departure either from his standpoint or those of his bosses. You’re welcome. My take is…it’s all speculation. Sure, it could have been that his views got him fired. It could have been burnout or a desire to strike out on his own. In fact, it could have been CIA mind-control (you heard it here first!). At this point in time, given what we (the general public) knows, Olbermann’s leaving MSNBC doesn’t say anything in particular to anyone…beyond what they want it to say. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-olbermann-leaving-msnbc-say/569003.md?page=2)