Olbermann Leaves MSNBC in Howard Stern Style

The cable news world received a bit of a shock Friday night when MSNBC's Keith Olbermann announced that his show "Countdown" was ending that night. After a brief good-bye to his audience, and the usual Friday night James Thurber story, the broadcaster brought his 8-year run with the network to an abrupt end. The blogosphere went nuts, with rightists celebrating and lefties wondering which conspiracy theory to believe. Both, as usual, looked at the issue in the wrong way. Mr. Olbermann will be back, and it all likelihood it was his idea to go. Just as Howard Stern left broadcast radio for satellite, Mr. Olbermann probably left MSNBC to take greater control over his own work and to put an extra zero or two on his paycheck.

The left sees this as some kind of corporate conspiracy; they always do. They argue that Mr. Olbermann got the sack because of Comcast's impending purchase of NBC Universal, which owns MSNBC. "Comcast wants to silence Olberman," or so they believe. It is obvious that they have never spent much time in the business world. It is not populated by grand strategic thinkers and plotters on a par with Cardinal Richelieu. Most business people can't keep a secret and can't plan beyond Friday afternoon with any clarity. They aren't good at conspiracy and aren't really all that bright.

The right wing never liked him very much because he used something that few conservatives use anymore, logic. In the Bushevik era, facts were malleable things. What mattered was the narrative of a strong leader protecting America flawlessly since September 12, 2001. Mr. Olbermann had the temerity to point out that September 11, 2001 happened, and it happened with a Republican Mayor of New York City, a Republican Governor of New York State and a Republican President of the US at the helm. The Gambino crime family protects New York better, and Mr. Olbermann felt no qualms about saying the emperor has no clothes -- or the president has no clue. "Losing" his show means they won't have to listen to him, and dissent from their narrative makes them upset.

What no one wants to acknowledge in this story is the fact that business relationships begin and end all the time, and not always for reasons that are perfectly rational. For example, Mr. Olbermann is a multi-millionaire and doesn't need a job. He may prefer sportscasting to political commentating, and he may simply want to do what he likes. And this is where the Howard Stern example comes in.

Mr. Stern was a big deal on FM radio a few years ago. The great "shock jock" pulled in millions, and on occasion, he got in trouble with the FCC for "bad language." He decided to take his show to satellite radio where the FCC couldn't complain as pay-to-listen radio rules are different from open broadcast rules. He got buckets of stock from Sirius XM and absolute control over his program. Judging from his recent interviews, he's happier.

So, Mr. Olbermann is most likely not the victim of a conspiracy nor is his career over. Instead, he will take a few months of "non-compete clause" time to watch baseball. And when that it over, he will turn up with a syndicated program, his own network (Oprah Winfrey just started one, so it must be the "in" thing to do), or some other platform for doing what he likes. He will probably poke the rightists in the eye again, and the left will welcome him back while opining that the new product is not as good as "Countdown" or that it is vastly better. Meanwhile, he will call more of the shots (apparently he isn't the easiest fellow with whom to work) and keep more of the ad revenue.

One only hopes that somewhere he will continue to read Thuber aloud. Grown-ups need bedtime stories, too.

© Copyright 2011 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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