It was a force-out!!! KO had contract thru 2012!

[Dennis Donovan]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CC8QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.observer.com%2F2008%2Fmedia%2Fmsnbc-extends-keith-olbermanns-contract-through-2012&ei=9Ts6TeadL9TOgAeW1bW-CA&usg=AFQjCNHADO1_Ya0Vvd4RbpGFJQ7CSEcGdg&sig2=BEaw-hQkFd3mdkk6JqZ7vQ

MSNBC Extends Keith Olbermann's Contract Through 2012
By Felix Gillette
November 10, 2008 | 12:49 p.m

MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced today that the cable news channel has extended Keith Olbermann's contract through 2012.

In February of last year, MSNBC and Mr. Olbermann reached an agreement that would keep the Countdown host under contract through 2011.

The new agreement would seem to extend Mr. Olbermann's commitment to MSNBC through the 2012 presidential election.

[somone]

1. Sure sounds like it

[derby378]

2. Someone at Comcast ordered: "Off with his head"

American journalism has suffered a mighty blow tonight.

[Contrary1]

11. And so has MSNBC. n/t

[TomClash]

3. Media contract provisions

often contain a clause terminating the contract in the event of a merger or acquisition.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. So, he gets moolah. Good. -nt

[malaise]

5. Not sure

Knowing KO he was ready to walk after the suspension.

KO for Press Secretary :D

[lonestarnot]

7. Could we really expect him to put up with their stupid shit over there with those pugs?

[bleever]

6. Keith changed his Thurber selection just about an hour before the show,

according to his Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/@keitholbermann

[Cleita]

8. Damn that sucks. That means he won't be able to

do anything until his contract is up through 2012. It's what happened to the other anchor David Shuster. I was sort of hoping Keith could take his show to HBO or someplace where he wouldn't be censored.

[jeff47]

14. No, they negotiated an end to the contract.

Which means 2012 doesn't matter any more. Reportedly the negotiations to end the contract resulted in a 1-year non-compete.

[JPZenger]

9. Time for a Strongly Worded Email

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

Links to other comcast emails:

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/About/PressRoom/PressAndAnalystContacts/CorporateCommunication.html

Exec VP:

[e-mail]

Senior VP Corporate Affairs

[e-mail]

Senior VP Corporate Communications

[e-mail]

Senior VP Public Policy and External Affairs

[e-mail]

VP Corporate Communications

[e-mail]

Senior Director, Public Affairs

[e-mail]

Senior VP, Government Affairs

[e-mail]


They also own the Golf Channel and E. I can't really boycott them because I never watched them.

[moondust]

10. His sign-off statement mentioned being anti-establishment.

I think that suggests that he was, indeed, forced out (by the new establishment).

[JPZenger]

12. kicked

[jeff47]

13. Um....no

If they wanted to screw Olbermann they could just take him off the air. His contract would have tied him up until 2012. Just like they did to Schuster.

Instead, they negotiated an end to his contract. Apparently the settlement contains a 1-year non-compete. But keeping his contract intact would have created a 2-year non-compete.

[Dennis Donovan]

15. "They negotiated an end to his contract"

Explain how that is NOT a force-out?:shrug:

[jeff47]

16. Because negotiations involve two parties.

A "force-out" involves one party forcing the other out.

They could have completely screwed him over, which is what they would do in a "force-out". They didn't.

[Dennis Donovan]

18. No, because they couldn't fire him - he had a contract until 2012...

...and he gave no indication that he wanted to leave. They had no choice BUT to "negotiate" his ouster (i.e. buy out his contract).

On edit: read Greg Sargent's WaPo article and tell me if you think it was "mutual" :
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x248768

[jeff47]

19. My entire point is that they would not fire him.

They'd leave the contract intact and refuse to put him on the air. I suspect his contract also gave them veto power over radio appearances and books, as that would be pretty common for media figures.

By ending the contract, they lose a ton of leverage that could be used to really silence Olbermann. There was no need to negotiate an ouster, just do to Olbermann what they did to Schuster.

And there's been a long stream of anonymous rumbling out of MSNBC that Olbermann did not get along with the new executives. Everyone involved is professional enough to not talk about it openly, so we really can't be sure of the exact situation between Olbermann and his bosses.

[backscatter712]

17. They tried to force him out.

The whole suspension bit last year was their gambit to force him off the air on their terms.

That blew up in their faces because of the extensive support from his viewers.

They still wanted to get rid of him, but couldn't just push him off the air, so they had to give Olbermann some goodies to entice him to bow out.

Which probably means lots of money, as well as reduced non-compete terms so he can get on with another network in months instead of years.

[SoCalDem]

20. what network? that invisible network with Dan Rather?

Fox? :rofl:

CNN unlikley

what else is there?

OprahNet? not a fit, since he's not into new-age crystals or Dr Phil-isms or the other nonsense she put on that "network"

PBS? they are on their way out & have noticeably eliminated liberalism in recent years.

Comedy Central? he's not a "comedian"

CBS could step up and finally create their own 24-hr cable-style offshoot, with him at the helm, but in these financial times, I don;t see them doing it.

If they DID, there would be people following him. His "regulars" are all worthy of their own shows, and his cronies at MSNBC would probably join up when contracts expired...but the way they handled the Rather episode tells me they are not interested..

[jeff47]

22. Actually CNN has been having a very hard time filling that 7pm timeslot

If I were them, I'd be having some informal chats with Olbermann.

[jeff47]

21. And this is bad because?

Isn't it better for Olbermann to not be hamstrung by executives that hate him?

[backscatter712]

23. Good point. Olbermann will be back.

Because we got his back with the whole suspension drama, they couldn't force Keith out in disgrace. He left with better terms on the severance agreement, and may have a new show in six months, either on CNN, or maybe TBS or HBO.

Scratch that, just from reading the tea leaves, I think it's possible (though I'm speculating and usually wrong on this) that he may just jump on the Internet. For a tiny fraction of the money required to do a cable news station, he can build a web site, maybe even with a little studio like the Young Turks studio, upload videos to Youtube, write articles, cultivate his fan base, etc.