businessinsider.com: it was Comcast!

[pokerfan]

It likely has everything to do with this:

Comcast officially takes over on Monday.

Today is also Jeff Zucker's last day; earlier today he sent out his farewell memo to staff.

There has been speculation dating back to Olberman's suspension in October that the powers that be might not be that comfortable with the amount of unquestioned clout Olbermann wielded at MSNBC (even with somewhat diminished ratings it was a lot).

Combined with his legendary ego and unreliable temperament (anyone who follows him on Twitter can attest to both) it's quite possible Olbermann's strong ratings looked slightly less appealing. Especially with Rachel Maddow and now Lawrence O'Donnell in the wings, both of whom make strong showings in the ratings.

Next question: Is Comcast cleaning house? And if so, will Olbermann enabler MSNBC president Phil Griffin be next? And if so who will replace him?

Update: NBC execs tell the NYT Bill Carter that "the move had nothing to do with the impending takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast." No. All just a big coincindence.

http://www.businessinsider.com/so-why-did-msnbc-just-dump-keith-olbermann-2011-1#ixzz1BjNVJhyn

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. As one of my characters once quipped in a novel

"gentlemen, there are no coincidences."

[glinda]

5. There are no coincidences.

[morningglory]

6. Is it going to be Tweety 4 hours a night? nt

[aquart]

2. No shit, Sherlock.

Comcast wanted to pretend the blood wasn't on their hands. However my handy dandy blood detector spotted it right away.

[Richard Steele]

3. Of course it was. What else could it have been? No other possibility is remotely as likely. nm

[era veteran]

4. The razor says

Comcast

[jeff47]

7. Actually, that doesn't make much sense.

They had Olbermann for 2 more years. If they wanted to be rid of him, they'd just take him off the air and not end his contract. Like they did to Schuster.

Instead, they negotiated an end to the contract. Reportedly the negotiations resulted in a 1-year non-compete. If you have the guy over a barrel for 2 years, you don't cut that in half if you're trying to silence him.

Now, it may be Comcast in that reportedly Olbermann and Zucker got along quite well, and Comcast's merger results in Zucker's departure. But that wouldn't be Comcast firing him. It would be Olbermann leaving of his own will because he didn't like the new executives.

We really shouldn't jump to conclusions yet. But keep the torches and pitchforks handy.