General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDid Olbermann already have a new deal in the bag?
Two media-savvy people I know suggest Olbermann was in the middle of a possible deal to do a weekend commercial-free hour on one of the pay cable outlets along the lines of "Real Time" - or may have actually secured it. Can't confirm it, but you heard the rumor here first.
JI7
(89,279 posts)johnfunk
(6,113 posts)And Olbermann is no idiot when it comes to making media deals. Yes, he's irascible (as I have heard directly from people who respect him and have worked with him) and has a reputation of being difficult and even impossible to deal with - but his beefs with Current are completely plausible: the uninspired second-rate sets, the substandard graphics, the failure to promote the network outside of the network. And don't get me started about their amateurish promos for their own programming.
Their documentaries are first rate, I'm glad they pulled in Bill Press and Stephanie Miller in the AM, and I like Cenk, Granholm, and Spitzer. I'll keep watching. But they should have listened to Keith, even if he can be a high-dudgeon prima donna.
I'm also hearing that Olbermann's beef is not with Gore but the other partners and the direct management.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)If his beef was with the fact that his sets were second rate, than let us face some ugly facts.
KO knew Current did not have one tenth the budget of even MSNBC. The whole point was to build current up to that level. There are many Four-star restaurants that started off as humble shacks.
Second, what if the whole point was to not try and be like the others, because the average current viewer watches because they know those glossy sets are used to hide FLUFF.
Sorry, but IF, emphasize __>if<__ this is the real reason, he is being a prima donna, and frankly, considering that the people doing the damage to the GOP are the low budget types in OWS and on the internet, then he can simply wait until he finds another ship to sail on. However, he better not claim that he was on the ground floor all along then.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)then it confirms to me he's an actor, not a whateverhecallshimself, journalist?
Tarheel_Dem
(31,245 posts)yet another abrupt departure. I've decided that it's not everyone else, it's Keith.
madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)Please explain who might cover him "commercial free".
Thanks.
johnfunk
(6,113 posts)Cinemax, Showtime, and a few others could do a lot worse than pulling in Olbermann. "Real Time" is a solid franchgise for HBO.
madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)the privilige to watch real shitty crap? Yeah, no commercials.
Joe the Revelator
(14,915 posts)I pay 11 dollars a month.
DefenseLawyer
(11,101 posts)No commercials on HBO
Rosco T.
(6,496 posts)since his buddy Adam Sorkin is doing a newsroom drama there with the main character not so very loosely based on Keith
pacalo
(24,721 posts)grasswire
(50,130 posts)good to see you 'round here
deacon
(5,967 posts)Stinky The Clown
(67,832 posts)A retracing of his life path will make necessary the fording of many rivers to bypass the smoldering wreckage of burned bridges.
johnfunk
(6,113 posts)... but I'm not complaining. I won't work for crooks or people who do not keep their promises, and yes, I even sued one and reached a private settlement that I found fair.