Keith Olbermann SUSPENDED From MSNBC Indefinitely

[SCRawl]

I wonder if they could fire him, then offer his job back at severely reduced pay.

He's in the middle of a four year contract, which they'll probably have to honour even if they relieve him of his duties. I think.

[Seele]

I wonder if they could fire him, then offer his job back at severely reduced pay.

He's in the middle of a four year contract, which they'll probably have to honour even if they relieve him of his duties. I think.

depending on how it is worded and the conditions. This whole episode could be management's way of not having to pay him the remainder of his contract.

[General Zod]

I wonder if they could fire him, then offer his job back at severely reduced pay.

He's in the middle of a four year contract, which they'll probably have to honour even if they relieve him of his duties. I think.

That's the whole point of dismissing him on a contract violation. If someone violates their contract the employer doesn't necessarily have to pay them.

[MKSheppard]

If nothing else, this should prove beyond a shadow of doubt that MSNBC is a "Real" news source instead of Fox News.

Please put down your fucking crackpipe, Crossroads.

Link

Chris Hayes, tapped Friday by MSNBC to fill in for the indefinitely suspended Keith Olbermann as host of the prime-time political show “Countdown,” gave money to two Democratic campaigns in recent years. Now, following that disclosure, MSNBC says Mr. Hayes won’t get the gig after all.

Mr. Hayes, editor of The Nation, a liberal magazine, made a series of donations to Josh Segall, an Alabama Democrat, who ran for Congress in 2008 and considered running in the Democratic primary for this election. Mr. Hayes donated $1,500 to Mr. Segall in 2008 and $250 in December 2009, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The editor also donated $250 in January 2009 to Thomas Geoghegan, who ran in a primary for an Illinois seat. This summer, Mr. Hayes interviewed Mr. Geoghegan, an author, when he guest hosted The Rachel Maddow Show, another MSNBC program.

Heh.

So no, Crossroads; contrary to what you might think about 'setting standards', this is looking more and more like an attempt to get rid of Olbermann who is sort of known for making the opposite of BFFs with the management of whatever station he's on.

Did some checking around for numbers:

Keith got signed to a 30 million four year contract in 2008. That's about $7.5 million USD a year. I don't have any idea if he has any contractural incentives like bonuses or that.

Shep Smith over at Fox just got his contract renewed in October -- a three year contract extension; his last contract had him being paid $7-8 million a year.

O'Reilly is rumored to be paid about $10+ million USD a year under his contract with Fox News.

Jon Stewart's officially paid $1.5 million for his show; and gets about $10-12 million a year in royalties from shit he's done, like his books; which are basically extensions of the daily show.

Numbers:

Link

7 PM: Shep Smith pulls 1.5 million viewers and obliterates everyone else in his timeslot; Chris Matthews only pulls 645k.

8 PM: O'Reilly pulls 2.5 million and obliterates everyone else; Olbermann only can get 1.1 million.

11 PM: Jon Stewart pulls in 1.3 million viewers in October 2010 for Daily show; ahead of both Tonight and Late Show by Leno and Letterman. Link

This really does look like an attempt by the current head of NBC Universal to make nice and cut the bottom line in advance of the Comcast takeover. I seriously think that what decides if Keith keeps his job are the ratings for Countdown with the interim hosts, especially after one week. If they can pull 60-75% of the ratings Keith does; Keith isn't coming back, since the cost of paying lawyers to keep Keith out of his contract will be cheaper to NBC than paying him for the rest of his contract.

[Uraniun235]

I'll tell you one thing: If Kieth is fired, I won't be watching MSNBC anymore. I'm not watching now until Kieth is reinstated.

Oh cool, I didn't know you were a Nielson household.

[Flagg]

I'll tell you one thing: If Kieth is fired, I won't be watching MSNBC anymore. I'm not watching now until Kieth is reinstated.

Oh cool, I didn't know you were a Nielson household.

What does that have to do with anything? Just because my viewing habits aren't recorded doesn't mean I have to watch a channel that pulls bullshit like this.

[Uraniun235]

No, but it does mean that your "boycott" won't ever be noticed by the network's management or owners, so either Olbermann's was the only show you ever watched on MSNBC or you're irrationally denying yourself programs that you would have otherwise watched.

[Flagg]

No, but it does mean that your "boycott" won't ever be noticed by the network's management or owners, so either Olbermann's was the only show you ever watched on MSNBC or you're irrationally denying yourself programs that you would have otherwise watched.

I DVR them so that may come into effect. I'm also going to write to MSNBC's advertisers and boycott them as well if Olbermann is terminated.

[Elfdart]

So when is Scarborough going to be fired? Any takers?

I think we all know what is going on here.

Considering that Scarborough's show (which is a ratings black hole) is Griffin's baby, and that Griffin pulled Olbermann as host of the 2008 convention coverage (for asking Scarborough why he didn't a shovel), and that Griffin banned Markos Moulitsas from MSNBC for pimp-slapping Scarborough on Twitter...


About 10 minutes after hell freezes over.

[MKSheppard]

Some more data:

POLITICO

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Network sources tell Playbook that Keith Olbermann was suspended because he refused to deliver an on-camera mea culpa, which would have allowed him to continue anchoring “Countdown.” Olbermann told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly. Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks. He makes $7 million a year and MSNBC's prime time is not as dependent on him as it was before the addition of Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, who make considerably less.

[SCRawl]

Apparently, Keith just got a four-day weekend.

NBC: Olbermann suspension ending Tuesday
Msnbc TV host violated network rules about political donations


msnbc.com
updated 24 minutes ago 2010-11-08T02:54:30

Keith Olbermann's suspension from msnbc television for donating to three Democratic campaigns will end this coming Tuesday, NBC announced Sunday night.

Olbermann was suspended indefinitely Friday for violating NBC News rules about donations.

(Msnbc.com, a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft, also has a policy against its journalists contributing to political campaigns.)

In a statement released Sunday evening, Phil Griffin, president of msnbc television, said he had deliberated about Olbermann’s status for several days.
Story: Keith Olbermann suspended over political donations

“I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night's program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy,” Griffin said. “We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.

On his own Twitter account, Olbermann broke his silence about the suspension on Sunday. “Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug & obviously left me tweetless XO,” he wrote.

The anchor was likely referring to an online petition calling for his immediate reinstatement, run by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, exceeded 250,000 signatures.

Maybe this was a shot across Keith's bow, rather than the big move to shove him out of the window. Or perhaps they're establishing a pattern for future legal action. Otherwise, I really can't understand why they'd bother to suspend him and suffer the obvious PR blow.

[Phantasee]

I've had plenty of suspensions in junior high, it's a solid warning to you and others to not step out of line again. My problem wasn't breaking the same rules over and over again, it was breaking different ones. I imagine olbermann learned his lesson, along with the rest of the staff at msnbc, and he won't break that rule again.

Not a big deal, and I doubt anyone will give a shit in a month. Otoh if he makes it a habit of breaking rules and getting suspended, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up expelled—er, fired.

[SCRawl]

I've had plenty of suspensions in junior high, it's a solid warning to you and others to not step out of line again. My problem wasn't breaking the same rules over and over again, it was breaking different ones. I imagine olbermann learned his lesson, along with the rest of the staff at msnbc, and he won't break that rule again.

Not a big deal, and I doubt anyone will give a shit in a month. Otoh if he makes it a habit of breaking rules and getting suspended, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up expelled—er, fired.

The big question for me is whether or not sending that message to the MSNBC employees was worth the public shitstorm that was caused. And I'm finding it hard to believe that it was, if sending the message was the only object.