dagblog - Comments for "Keith Olbermann finished at MSNBC"

Hmm, well maybe I can tuck

erica20 — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:21:58 +0000

In reply to Olbermann Split Came After

Hmm, well maybe I can tuck away that post about the crumbling of free speech on the tee vee for another day....

Interesting research, artappraiser. That Ted C sounds lilke just the kind of guy a person hopes their sister never starts to date!

Olbermann Split Came After

artappraiser — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:29:31 +0000

In reply to Keith Olbermann finished at MSNBC

Olbermann Split Came After Years of Tension
By BILL CARTER and BRIAN STELTER
New York Times, January 23, 2011
[.....]
....underlying the decision, which one executive involved said was not a termination but a “negotiated separation,” were years of behind-the-scenes tension, conflicts and near terminations....

Inside the offices of MSNBC, staff members grew more restive about Mr. Olbermann’s temperament. Some days Mr. Olbermann threatened not to come to work at all and a substitute anchor had to be notified to be on standby...

....stories about Mr. Olbermann’s thin skin circulated widely in the newsroom. One such story, which was recalled independently by two hosts, dates to early December, when Mr. O’Donnell, then carving out some success as the 10 p.m. host on MSNBC, collegially proposed via e-mail that Mr. Olbermann come on his show to talk about President Obama’s tax-cut compromise.

Mr. O’Donnell had written this post on Twitter: “Liberal critics of the Obama deal say exactly what Pat Buchanan said of George H. W. Bush: he’s weak.” The message speculated that Mr. Obama’s critics would do to him what Mr. Buchanan “did to H.W. Bush: destroy him and help elect a president from the other party.”

Mr. Olbermann apparently interpreted the message as a personal attack; he declined to appear on Mr. O’Donnell’s show. “I saw what you wrote on Twitter,” he snapped at Mr. O’Donnell.
[....]

In the last several months, the relationship began moving toward its denouement: Mr. Olbermann hired new agents from the big firm ICM in September, parting from Jean Sage, the agent who had steered his career through all its previous rocky shoals. Several NBC executives said the move was made to facilitate an eventual settlement of the two years left on Mr. Olbermann’s contract.

Mr. Olbermann’s future is up in the air, mainly because he agreed to a deal that would keep him off television for six to nine months, according to several executives involved in his exit. He is also apparently forbidden to discuss his departure.

One NBC executive involved in the decision to settle Mr. Olbermann’s contract said that he was allowed to work in radio or on the Internet and would presumably be free to return to television in time for the 2012 election cycle.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/business/media/24olbermann.html

The above is confirmed in a

artappraiser — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:00:48 +0000

In reply to Hmm. ICM is big. Who was his

The above is confirmed in a NYT piece today, see my link to it at bottom of the thread. In the last several months, he got rid of his old agent and hired ICM to help him negotiate outta there (and probably plan his new career moves as well.) And as Barth notes right above that, this is also confirmed by his public announcement: that he had not been happy there for quite some time.

Peope's read his comment

Barth — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:16:16 +0000

In reply to Keith Olbermann finished at MSNBC

Peope's read his comment carefully. He was unhappy. I am certain he did not ewant to return after the suspension. I suspect it was less his political views than that he does not like being told what to do. That was his right, but until he owns a cable compnay, his rights have limits:

There were many occasions, particularly in the last two and a half years, where all that surrounded the show — but never the show itself — was just too much for me. But your support and loyalty — if I may use the word insistence — ultimately required that I keep going.

Some quick googling says Jean

artappraiser — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 09:26:39 +0000

In reply to Hmm. ICM is big. Who was his

Some quick googling says Jean Sage at TV Talent/Napoli Management Group for many years:

here in June 1997 representing him in switch from ESPN to his first stint at MSNBC:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/21/sports/olbermann-poised-to-join-nbc.ht...

here April 19, 2005 she's doing damage control for him:

http://insidecable.blogsome.com/2005/04/19/a-note-from-keith-olbermanns-...

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/agent-refutes-blind-gossip-items-abo...

here cited on chart April 18, 2008 as becoming Maddow's agent as well as his right before she joins MSNBC because of him:

http://news.muckety.com/2008/08/11/rachel-maddow-on-short-list-for-own-p...

here's someone on a discussion on the "Keith Olberman Fan Forum", a thread about the November 2010 controversy, saying Sports Journal on October 4, 2010 says he just signed with ICM, the commenter also says he "probably still retains Jean":

http://www.keitholbermann.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=24623&start=15#...

The commenter also says Nick Kahn is the ICM agent that signed him:

Here's Howard Kurtz at The Daily Beast November 14, 2010 on the same November 2010 controversy in extreme detail, titling it "Vicious Infighting at NBC News," someone leaking all kinds of stuff to him about the related meetings with the new agents included, someone who obviously is no fan of Olbermann's tenure there:

....The fault lines became clear the day after Labor Day, when Olbermann’s new management team—Ted Chervin and Nick Kahn of the Hollywood super-agency ICM, and Price—met in Jeff Zucker’s spacious, 52nd-floor office at 30 Rock. ...

Here's an intereview with Ted Chervin, introducing him as "cutthroat" enough to be a major player in the agent business because he's a former New York Assistant DA, and says as of late 2006, he is "Co-head of worldwide television, ICM, Los Angeles":

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/legal-services/4466916-1.html

O'Donnell is a corporatist

Lazy KGB — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 09:16:49 +0000

In reply to Likewise. Fine with me if

O'Donnell is a corporatist tool.

Hmm. ICM is big. Who was his

erica20 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 07:37:42 +0000

In reply to And again with more detail

Hmm. ICM is big. Who was his previous agent?

And again with more detail

artappraiser — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 05:06:09 +0000

In reply to Olbermann’s MSNBC Exit Was

And again with more detail and embellishment--turns out he just got himself a new agent, and a powerful one in the entertainment biz I have no idea how trustworthy this site is, but this is really the Hollywood biz, kids (cable TV news became part of it--entertainment--when Ted Turner left,) where you have someone creating this buzz on purpose, like agents for highly paid "news" anchors and pundits:

Did Keith Olbermann Bolt MSNBC to Create Media Empire?
Published: January 21, 2011 @ 6:13 pm

By Dominic Patten & Sharon Waxman, The Wrap--Covering Hollywood

It was Keith Olbermann's decision to leave his high-profile perch at MSNBC, TheWrap has learned. The outspoken host abruptly announced his departure on Friday evening, sending shock waves through the cable news world.

But the sudden departure has a history, and the timing does not rule out a preemptive MSNBC move. The gadfly commentator first told the network last April that he wanted to leave and began negotiating his exit then, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.

Olbermann abandoned the notion of leaving at that time but revived his plans in recent weeks with new representation from the talent agency ICM.
With two years left on his $7 million a year contract, Olbermann was seeking a full exit package but he really has his eye on creating his own media empire in the style of Huffington Post, according to the individual. That way, Olbermann would control his own brand and, in his view, potentially earn far more as an owner.....

Some of you might be disappointed to think of Olbermann as a celebrity selling himself and having an agent to plot his career ambitions and doing what that agent thinks best, thinking of him as someone with more high minded principles. I am not surprised as I always saw an entertainer/sportscaster first, who happened to be enjoying a chance to influence political media according to his own political preferences, but sitll someone with personal celebrity ambition over all, Certainly not a Walter Cronkite type,definitely more Ariana Huffington.

More similar as the Times'

artappraiser — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:41:05 +0000

In reply to Olbermann’s MSNBC Exit Was

More similar as the Times' from similar sources though less detailed:

Olbermann's split with MSNBC may have been long in the making

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post, January 22, 2011; 8:35 PM

...Olbermann and MSNBC are operating under an exit agreement, the product of lengthy negotiations, that limits each side from commenting publicly, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. The agreement also ties Olbermann to a "non-compete" provision that will prevent him from appearing on a competing TV network for an undisclosed period....

and then this from a less trustworthy site but also one that does specialize in being able to get inside info. on such things, an explanation that does fit well with all of the above, and with the abruptness, and also syncs with the exit of his "protector" Jeff Zucker:

Keith Olbermann's Exit -- Secret Deal

1/22/2011 10:00 AM PST by TMZ Staff

Keith Olbermann saw the handwriting on the wall with the new owner of NBC and cut a deal for his exit that will give him money and options -- sources tell TMZ.

Here's how it went down. Sources familiar with the situation tell us that Olbermann's agent recently went to NBC complaining that Keith -- who has the most popular show on MSNBC -- was underpaid at $7 million per year. NBC execs told Olbermann's agent they would not cough up anymore money.

Network execs were well aware that Comcast wanted Keith gone because he was "a loose cannon that could not be controlled." It became clear to both sides that Olbermann's days were numbered and they began negotiating an exit.

We're told the exit deal wasn't completed until just before airtime Friday night.

Under the deal, sources say Olbermann will get money but cannot appear on television for a certain period time -- we don't know how long.

Our sources say Olbermann will, however, reappear soon with a presence on the Internet.

And see Flavius' reasoning here in his reader blog on Dagblog, which also fits with all of the above.

Point taken.

erica20 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 03:46:31 +0000

In reply to Actually, I don't think for a

Point taken.