Olbermann steps down from MSNBC
While he gave no specific reasons, Olbermann told viewers in a farewell message that “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.”
Olbermann had locked horns with NBC Universal management on various occasions, most recently last fall when he was briefly suspended for making contributions to the campaigns of Democratic candidates. He complained at the time that the network’s policy on the issue was inconsistent.
He was also a relentless tormentor of other cable personalities, including Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck of Fox News, with both men frequently earning his “Worst Person In The World” honor. News Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS 16.91, +0.56, +3.43%) , the parent of Fox, is also the publisher of this report.
His departure, after eight years on the air, comes just days before cable giant Comcast Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!cmcsa/quotes/nls/cmcsa (CMCSA 23.53, +0.27, +1.16%) takes over operational control of NBC Universal in the wake of the company’s purchase of a majority stake in it from General Electric Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!ge/quotes/nls/ge (GE 19.74, +1.31, +7.11%) .
An MSNBC spokesman, cited on the network’s website, said the impending takeover had nothing to do with Olbermann’s departure while Comcast said in a written statement that it “pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not interfere with NBC Universal’s news operations. We have not and we will not.”
Olbermann was MSNBC’s most popular figure and hosted the highest rated show of any cable news network outside of Fox, which dominates the top spots. In 2008, he signed a new four-year contract for a reported $30 million. It is unclear for how long the terms of his departure may keep him off the air.
William Spain is a MarketWatch staff writer in Chicago.
News From: www.marketwatch.com
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