I, for one, don't want Keith Olbermann back at MSNBC

[chillspike]

I want him to start his own media empire like Arianna Huffington or Al Gore and invite other liberal commentators to speak through it, as well. That way Keith has full freedom to say what he wants without having to think about what the higher ups would say. Why should we petition to put Keith back under Phil Griffin's thumb?

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

1. You (and I) may well...

... get that which we want:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=252617&mesg_id=252617

Also, see my further thoughts at post 22 within that thread.

[Vinca]

2. I agree. Keith can do much more for the cause away from MSNBC.

[PDittie]

3. Right.

That part of his (and our) life is a completed chapter.

And I won't boycott MSNBC either because I like Rachel and Ed and Lawrence too much to do that. As for Comcast, I kicked them to the curb years ago. Truly one of the worst corporate persons in the world.

[brentspeak]

4. MSNBC provided Olbermann with millions of American viewers every night

It's highly unlikely a brand-new, lasting media empire can be created these days without huge sums of corporate $$$ and access to the FCC.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

6. Not millions of viewers, but...

... a hair over one million a night and he was down this year compared with his viewership of 2009.

The Oblermann "brand" and core professional competencies - as well as his Q metric, itself - however, are worth not only millions but hundreds of millions to any potential private VC investment group with the focus of launching, embedding, and marketing a new platform that would maximize the rapidly developing transition away from conventional media and towards the dozens, if not thousands, of new media channels, devices, and internet avenues.

[yodermon]

7. if it's internet-based, it will be him preaching to the choir.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

10. As if...

... his one million viewers each evening are not overwhelmingly baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Keith already?

[brentspeak]

11. No, they're not

His audience was growing every year.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

12. Facts are, indeed.....

.... rather tragic - when they fly in the face of delusion:

A Tough 2010: Keith Olbermann’s Ratings Drop by 25%
Posted on December 28, 2010 by Jason Easley

The bad news keeps coming for MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. The 2010 ratings data is starting to trickle in, and the news is not so great for the Countdown host. In a down year for cable news where all three networks registered a decline in viewers, Keith Olbermann lost 11% of his total audience, but what is most troubling is that among the coveted age 25-54 demographic Olbermann lost 25% of his audience.

- SNIP -

Keith Olbermann’s total drop in viewership was 2% higher than MSNBC’s network average, (11% vs 9%). In contrast, Rachel Maddow lost less of her audience than MSNBC as a whole. Maddow only declined by 6% compared to the network’s 11%. Maddow’s total loss was almost half of her lead in Olbermann, (6% compared to 11%). Olbermann also lost a higher than network percentage of those viewers age 25-54. MSNBC lost 18%. Olbermann lost 25%. Maddow only lost 14%.

- SNIP -

http://www.politicususa.com/en/olbermann-ratings-2010

[brentspeak]

13. Apparently, you prefer selective facts

Your link merely regurgitates data already assembled in http://www.businessinsider.com/quarterly-ratings-keith-olbermann-is-slipping-in-the-key-25-54-age-demographic-2010-6">mid-year that Olbermann's ratings among one age group had declined. So he lost 25% of the 25-54 demographic yet was down only 11% overall -- which means that he was actually gaining some viewers in other age groups. Considering that every other talking head personality on TV suffered ratings losses, Olbermann was doing ok.

BTW, Olbermann's ratings http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Cable_20/Fallout-from-Olbermann-snit-Ratings-kick.asp">kicked up 25% after he was reinstated from his suspension two months ago. That bump leveled off, but it demonstrated there was still great public interest in his show.

[TeaBagsAreForCups]

16. Apparently....

... when the need for selective and desperate spinning - in an attempt to impotently continue to support prior fallacious declarations - both reading comprehension and elemental freshmen statistical analysis become sorely absent from your repertoire.

Regrets.

[geckosfeet]

5. Agreed. He will probably be happier rolling his own. He won't be as manipulated by the handlers. eom

[SoCalDem]

8. "...media empire..." ===> Al Gore?

Current is little more than junk..and reruns of old movies that can be found on a hundred other channels.

To GET Current, they dumped ICTV, which was real news..
no gain there, and not much of an empire.:(

http://current.com/schedule/
nothing but re-run "canned" pieces & movies

[Cleita]

9. Yeah, I miss the old ICTV and am very disappointed

with Current.

[jillan]

14. This is my biggest hope. Let Keith be Keith without limitations.

[Recursion]

15. Not sure his talents lie in that direction

Running a media empire (which, incidentally, is now how I would describe what Huff or Gore do) requires putting up with an amount of bullshit that Keith doesn't seem capable of putting up with.

[grasswire]

17. 18 million to start a cable network

That was the word when Gore began Current.