DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,911
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 21, 2011 22:01:14 GMT -5
At the end of a week where Comcast took over NBC and the White House hired the CEO of GE as an adviser, it looks like Comcast bought out Keith Olbermann's $30M contract and he is out the door as of this evening. He didn't seem too upset when announcing it (read=the Comcast check cleared.) Internet chatter suggests MSNBC could now go as a conservative challenger to Fox, so Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews may want to check on a buyout of their own... mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp |
|
hoya95
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,445 
|
Post by hoya95 on Jan 21, 2011 22:39:23 GMT -5
Olbermann has a meltdown everywhere he goes. He fights with management until he finally quits or gets bought out. I'm only surprised it took this long here. If they suddenly start firing other liberal hosts, that would be one thing. But until then, it's just Olbermann being Olbermann.
He does have talent, but he may have the biggest ego in TV. And that's saying something.
|
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,911
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 21, 2011 23:00:25 GMT -5
|
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,480
|
Post by TC on Jan 22, 2011 0:06:38 GMT -5
Internet chatter suggests MSNBC could now go as a conservative challenger to Fox, so Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews may want to check on a buyout of their own... Harold Ford has a tingle in his leg! |
|
|
|
Post by jerseyhoya34 on Jan 22, 2011 0:31:03 GMT -5
If Tony Snow can be a WH Press Secretary...  |
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,480
|
Post by TC on Jan 22, 2011 1:27:12 GMT -5
Where is this "internet chatter" saying that MSNBC is going conservaganda?
|
|
SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,458
|
Post by SSHoya on Jan 22, 2011 2:53:34 GMT -5
I smell a book deal for Keith O.
|
|
SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
|
Post by SirSaxa on Jan 22, 2011 9:00:32 GMT -5
At the end of a week where Comcast took over NBC and the White House hired the CEO of GE as an adviser, it looks like Comcast bought out Keith Olbermann's $30M contract and he is out the door as of this evening. He didn't seem too upset when announcing it (read=the Comcast check cleared.) Internet chatter suggests MSNBC could now go as a conservative challenger to Fox, so Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews may want to check on a buyout of their own... mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hpSo I guess this doesn't count vis a vis the board rules on rumors and unsubstantiated claims? Getting back to reality: - Comcast has not yet taken over MSNBC, and they issued a statement saying they had nothing to do with this. - MSNBC has already revised its schedule and has Lawrence O'Donnell replacing Olbermann. - How would "going conservative" with their evening shows be a smart business strategy for MSNBC? Fox already has that locked up. - Counter-programming, as MSNBC has done in the evening, is a much smarter strategy and has MSNBC as the #2 cable news network. - As for becoming a 24-hour, all ultra-conservative all the time news family, NBC already has quite a number of very conservative hosts on its various channels, though it doesn't have any nut jobs like Glenn Beck, just to name one. - MSNBC's AM show "Morning Joe", with former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, is a right leaning program -- though not anywhere near the extreme right wing propraganda machine that FOX "News" is. - CNBC, NBC's 24-hour business network, has more than it's share of highly conservative, pro-Republican, anti-Democrat on-air talent, including Larry Kudlow, Melissa Francis, Joe Kernen, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Trish Regan, and... most prominently of all, their biggest star, Maria Bartiromo. Not to mention the guy who first came up with the concept and the name of the "Tea Party", Rick Santelli. In short, the NBC News organization is already very well represented when it comes to slanting the news to the right. But to compete with Fox "News", whose viewers believe they actually are Fair and Balanced, would require a complete departure from NBC's remaining journalistic and ethical standards. Since they aren't going to beat Fox "News" at that game anyway, the much smarter business strategy is to counter-program Fox's evening shows with left leaning programming. Oh, and BTW, what does Jeff Immelt's new position as an adviser to President Obama have to do with any of this? |
|
Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
|
Post by Boz on Jan 22, 2011 10:44:48 GMT -5
|
|
DanMcQ
Moderator 
Posts: 32,842
|
Post by DanMcQ on Jan 22, 2011 10:52:08 GMT -5
Damn.
What am I going to do with my "Keith Olberman Speaks for Me" bumper sticker now???
|
|
SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
|
Post by SirSaxa on Jan 22, 2011 11:00:01 GMT -5
Damn. What am I going to do with my "Keith Olberman Speaks for Me" bumper sticker now??? ROTFL! |
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,911
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 22, 2011 15:55:46 GMT -5
Oh, and BTW, what does Jeff Immelt's new position as an adviser to President Obama have to do with any of this? It was referenced along with a busy week in media. I could have also said that Jeff Zucker resigned effective Friday as president of the NBC division but this wasn't specific to the story, at least that we know of. As noted in earlier threads, I may not always agree with Olbermann politically but I watched the show frequently. I appreciated some of the issues he raised on the show that others did not, that he raised over $2 million for pro bono health care for the New Orleans area, and I otherwise applaud his shining the light on the ongoing hypocrisy that is Glenn Beck, whose apocalyptic economic prophecies are aided by the sponsorship of the show by GoldLine.com. One wonders whether frequent Countdown punching bag Bill O'Reilly wil call the resignation/sacking a victory for Fox News next week. Howard Kurtz's article late Friday had this interesting quote: "A knowledgeable official said the move had nothing to do with Comcast taking control of NBC next week, although the cable giant was informed when it received final federal approval for the purchase that Olbermann would be leaving the cable channel." My opinion? A quid pro quo--NBC would take care of this by 1/31 so Comcast didn't have to. Olbermann saw the winds blowing, took the offer sitting on the table--essentially, paying off the remainder of his 4 year, $30M contract until he gets an offer elsewhere, and beat NBC to the punch by announcing he was out before they would drop the show when Comcast finally takes over. MSNBC has its issues--Ed Schultz makes Olbermann look like a veritable voice of reason, and the other hosts (except Rachel Maddow, who benefited from the Olbermann lead-in) are less competitive in the ratings. If Comcast wants to position MSNBC as a creditable news option alongside CNN and Fox, I think they'll eventually break up the liberal opinion bloc that GE tolerated as Olbermann brought in the ratings. Comcast has publicly said they will not interfere in the NBC News division...but these hosts are not in the news division. As for Olbermann, he'll land somewhere--he always has, even after runs at ESPN, NBC, and even Fox Sports. Olbermann frequently tried to channel the righteous indignation of Ed Murrow, even using his signature signoff, "Good night, and good luck", but it bears remembering that the august Murrow was all but taken off broadcast TV by the age of 50, having burned his own bridges with CBS in an era where there was only three employers in television. For Olbermann at 51, at least he's got a few more options. N.B. He also writes an entertaining, nonpartisan blog for MLB.com: keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/ |
|
|
|
Post by jerseyhoya34 on Jan 22, 2011 16:23:39 GMT -5
Interesting perspective, but I lose you when Fox and credible appear within 5 words of each other. In today's age, what counts as credible is whether a "news organization" can command a market share and make money. This is altogether different from whether the organization reports news. Hiring/firing decisions are now made on the basis of whether the company will make money, not whether there is journalistic value to it.
What Fox and, to some extent, MSNBC have done is supply that which the people demand in terms of partisan bickering, satire mimicking as news reporting (Fox), and the like. Not exactly the stuff of Cronkite or even Tom Brokaw.
|
|
Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
|
Post by Boz on Jan 22, 2011 16:55:42 GMT -5
This is a weak and tired argument.
Does anyone who likes to say things like "Faux News" ever watch the 6 p.m. news program on Fox? Sure, the last 20 minutes is panel commentary, mostly conservative, but there's almost always a liberal on the panel for counterpoint. The first 40 minutes, on the other hand, is a solid news program.
Or how about Shepard Smith's Fox Report at 7 p.m.? I daresay that is a better real news program than ANY of the networks' nightly news broadcasts.
The morning and daytime news shows (not the early morning talk shows) are perfectly credible news shows, though I grant with a more conservative tilt. But what's wrong with that? CNN and MSNBC's daytime news shows have a liberal tilt.
The contention arises with the commentary programs in prime time on all of the cable networks (and Beck/Chris Matthews at 5 p.m.). If you treat these as commentary programs, then there is nothing wrong with what they do.
Actually, I daresay Fox does a BETTER job at separating that opinion programming out from their news outfit than MSNBC. Do you ever see O'Reilly, Beck or Hannity extensively on Fox News on Election Night? They'll maybe pop in from time to time, and do post-election shows, but that's about it. The NEWS portion is anchored by newspeople like Smith or Brett Baer or Chris Wallace.
Over on MSNBC, you have Olbermann, Matthews and Maddow actually ANCHORING such types of news coverage. And I'm supposed to believe they're somehow MORE credible than Fox?
It's utter and complete balderdash that liberals have accepted as Gospel.
|
|
|
|
Post by jerseyhoya34 on Jan 22, 2011 16:59:04 GMT -5
Fox's credibility is independent of MSNBC's credibility in my opinion.
|
|
EasyEd
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,272
|
Post by EasyEd on Jan 22, 2011 19:52:01 GMT -5
Here's how the ratings stand:
CABLE NEWS RACE
THURS. JAN. 20, 2011
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,918,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,079,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,786,000
FOXNEWS BECK 1,780,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,460,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,106,000
CNN PIERS 1,025,000
MSNBC MADDOW 976,000
MSNBC O'DONNELL 855,000
MSNBC SCHULTZ 760,000
CNN COOPER 740,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 700,000
American people seem to like Fox News pretty well.
|
|
hoya95
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,445
|
Post by hoya95 on Jan 22, 2011 20:00:36 GMT -5
Here's how the ratings stand: CABLE NEWS RACE THURS. JAN. 20, 2011 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,918,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,079,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 1,786,000 FOXNEWS BECK 1,780,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 1,460,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,106,000 CNN PIERS 1,025,000 MSNBC MADDOW 976,000 MSNBC O'DONNELL 855,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 760,000 CNN COOPER 740,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 700,000 American people seem to like Fox News pretty well. You do realize that leaves about 300 million Americans who have the good sense not to watch any of that crap, right? Thank God for that. |
|
SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
|
Post by SirSaxa on Jan 22, 2011 22:31:51 GMT -5
Oh, and BTW, what does Jeff Immelt's new position as an adviser to President Obama have to do with any of this? It was referenced along with a busy week in media. I could have also said that Jeff Zucker resigned effective Friday as president of the NBC division but this wasn't specific to the story, at least that we know of. Jeff's Zucker's eventual departure was announced months ago, along with the news that a Comcast exec would take his place. |
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,480
|
Post by TC on Jan 22, 2011 22:41:52 GMT -5
Interesting perspective, but I lose you when Fox and credible appear within 5 words of each other. In today's age, what counts as credible is whether a "news organization" can command a market share and make money. This is altogether different from whether the organization reports news. Hiring/firing decisions are now made on the basis of whether the company will make money, not whether there is journalistic value to it. What Ambassador said. He's dead on here. I gotta ask - in what universe would MSNBC be able to flip conservative and grab FOX's market share? They have 0 conservative talent, unless you consider Pat Buchanan capable of his own show. They have probably the worst branding in the conservative universe. The idea is preposterous - when DFW originally cited internet chatter, I did a bunch of googling and couldn't find anyone posing this scenario, other than in this thread here. |
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,911
|
Post by DFW HOYA on Jan 22, 2011 23:50:37 GMT -5
Interesting perspective, but I lose you when Fox and credible appear within 5 words of each other. I said creditable, not credible, which is another discussion all its own. |
|
