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EspañolKEITH OLBERMANN
'Keith Olbermann' (born January 27, 1959) is an American news anchor, commentator and radio sportscaster. He currently hosts ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' on MSNBC, an hour-long nightly newscast that reviews the top news stories of the day along with political commentary by Olbermann. Starting with the 2007 NFL season, Olbermann will also serve as co-host of NBC's ''Football Night in America'' with Bob Costas.
Early life and career
Originally from New York City, Olbermann grew up in Westchester County, attending school at Hastings-on-Hudson. Keith Olbermann is of German ancestry[1]. He graduated from the Hackley School in Tarrytown two years after future ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. Olbermann then earned his bachelor of science degree in communications arts from Cornell University in 1979 while serving as sports director for WVBR, a student-run commercial radio station in Ithaca.[2]
As a teenager, Olbermann was a prolific writer of articles about baseball card collecting, appearing in many sports card collecting periodicals of the mid-1970s. He is credited in ''Sports Collectors Bible'', a 1975 book by Bert Randolph Sugar, which is considered one of the important early books for trading card collectors.
Olbermann began his professional career at UPI and RKO Radio before joining then nascent CNN in 1981. In 1984, he briefly worked as a sports anchor at WCVB-TV in Boston, before heading to Los Angeles to work at KTLA and KCBS. His work there earned him 11 Golden Mike Awards, and he was named Best Sportscaster by the California Associated Press three times.[3]
Career at ESPN
In 1992, he joined ESPN’s ''SportsCenter'', a position he held until 1997. He often co-hosted ''SportsCenter'' with Dan Patrick, the two becoming a popular anchor team. In 1995, Olbermann won a Cable ACE award for Best Sportscaster. Olbermann would later co-author a book with Patrick called ''The Big Show'' about their experiences working at ''SportsCenter''. On the May 10, 2004, episode for ''Countdown'', Olbermann said that the short-lived ABC dramedy ''Sports Night'' was based on his time on ''SportsCenter'' with Patrick.[4]
Leaving ESPN
In 1997, Olbermann abruptly left ESPN under a cloud of controversy, apparently burning his bridges with the network's management.[5] This began a long and drawn out feud between Olbermann and ESPN. During the time between 1997 and 2007 incidents between the two sides included Olbermann publishing an essay on Salon.com in November of 2002 entitled "Mea Culpa" in which he conceded that his own insecurities and neurotic behavior had led to many of his problems at work.[6] In the essay, it imparted an instance of where his former bosses remarked he had "too much backbone," which actually hit on a literal truth. Olbermann has six lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five. In 2004 ESPN famously snubbed him from the guest lineup of its 25th Anniversary ''SportsCenter'' "Reunion Week," which saw the likes of personalities such as Craig Kilborn and Charley Steiner return to the ''SportsCenter'' set. In 2007, ten years after Olbermann's departure, in an appearance on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', he said "If you burn a bridge, you can possibly build a new bridge, but if there's no river any more, that's a lot of trouble."[7] During the same interview, Olbermann stated that he recently learned that as a result of ESPN agreeing to let him back on the airwaves, he was banned from ESPN's main Bristol, Connecticut campus.
Return to ESPN
Olbermann has co-hosted an hour-long segment of the syndicated ''Dan Patrick Show'' on ESPN radio since 2004, first on Fridays only but since late 2005 on an everyday basis. Olbermann and Patrick refer to this segment as "The Big Show", harkening back to Olbermann's ''SportsCenter'' days, and Patrick often introduces Olbermann with the tagline "saving the democracy", a nod to his work on ''Countdown''. Olbermann's time at ESPN radio ended on August 17, 2007, when Patrick left the network to pursue other interests.[8]
Other sports broadcasting
Fox Sports
In 1998, Olbermann joined Fox Sports Net as anchor and executive producer for ''The Keith Olbermann Evening News'', a sportscast similar to ''SportsCenter'', airing weekly on Sunday evenings. While at Fox, he again hosted the 2000 World Series as well as Fox Broadcasting’s baseball ''Game of the Week''.
ABC Radio
After Olbermann left Fox Sports in 2001, he provided twice-daily sports commentary on the ABC Radio Network, reviving the "Speaking of Sports" and "Speaking of Everything" segments begun by Howard Cosell.
NFL on NBC
Olbermann was named on April 16, 2007 as co-host of ''Football Night in America'', NBC's NFL pre-game show that precedes their Sunday Night NFL game.[9]
Career at NBC Universal
First NBC stint
In 1997, Olbermann left ESPN to host his own primetime show on MSNBC. The news-variety program covered three or four topics in a one-hour broadcast. Olbermann also occasionally hosted the weekend edition of ''NBC Nightly News'', and, along with Hannah Storm, co-hosted NBC Sports’ pre-game coverage of the 1997 World Series.
When the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, the show morphed into ''White House in Crisis''. Olbermann became frustrated as his show was consumed by the Lewinsky story. In 1998, he stated that his work at MSNBC would "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry." [10]
Return to MSNBC on ''Countdown''
Main articles: Countdown with Keith Olbermann
On his return to MSNBC in 2003, he served as a substitute host on ''Nachman'' and as an anchor for the network's coverage of the war in Iraq. His own show, ''Countdown'', debuted shortly thereafter on March 31, 2003, in the 8 p.m. ET time slot previously held by programs hosted by Phil Donahue and, briefly, Lester Holt. Olbermann uses Edward R. Murrow's signature sign-off, "Good night and good luck," to end his show. On October 13, 2004, Olbermann launched ''Bloggermann'', his ''Countdown'' weblog, hosted on MSNBC.com.[11] Olbermann used the open format of the blog to expand on facts or ideas alluded to in the broadcast, to offer personal musings and reactions, and to break news at odd hours. However, in February 2007, Olbermann launched a new blog, ''The News Hole''.
''Countdown's format, per its name, involves Olbermann ranking the five biggest news stories of the day or sometimes "stories my producers force me to cover" as Olbermann puts it. This is done in numerical reversal or counting down with the first story shown being ranked fifth but apparently the most important. The segments ranked numbers two and one typically are of a lighter fare than segments ranked five through three. The first few stories shown are typically oriented toward government, politics, and world events. The last two typically involve celebrities, sports, or the bizarre.
Olbermann wrote an e-mail to a viewer concerning fellow MSNBC reporter Rita Cosby, saying, “Rita's nice, but dumber than a suitcase of rocks.”[12] Olbermann has since apologized for the email saying he had been stupid and should have known better.[13]
''Countdown'' posted a 76 percent gain in total viewers (52 percent in viewers aged 25 to 54) for the first quarter of 2007 over the first quarter of 2006 in the 8pm timeslot, Bill O'Reilly's gains during that period were 5 percent, Nancy Grace's 12 percent, and Paula Zahn's suffered a loss of 10 percent.[14] In the age 25-54 demographic, O'Reilly had 507,000 viewers versus Olbermann's 250,000.[14]
On February 16, 2007, MSNBC reported that Olbermann had signed a four-year extension on his contract with MSNBC for ''Countdown'', as well as the inclusion of another show set to air on NBC in the fall. The details of the show have not been fully disclosed, but Olbermann was quoted on air as saying it will deal with commentary segments similar to his "special comments", but not so politically oriented. He has referred to them as "essays."[16]
Allegations of bias
Although it began as a traditional newscast, ''Countdown With Keith Olbermann'' has gradually adopted an opinion-oriented format. The show frequently features criticism of prominent Republicans, especially the George W. Bush Administration and commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom Olbermann routinely dubs the “Worst Person In The World." [17]
The ''Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has written that Olbermann is "position[ing] his program as an increasingly liberal alternative to ''The O'Reilly Factor''."[18] This has led the conservative media watchdog group Media Research Center (MRC) to accuse Olbermann of liberal bias.[19][20] The MRC compiled a list of the recipients of Olbermann's “World's Worst” and reported that, of the approximately 600 recipients, 174 (29 percent) of those fit their definition of “conservative” people or ideas while only 23 (4 percent) were what they considered “liberal.”[21]
In an interview with Al Franken, Olbermann noted that in 2003, after having Janeane Garofalo and Franken on his show, the Vice President of NBC had questioned him on inviting "liberals" on consecutive nights. [22]
Olbermann has responded to the accusations of bias by saying, "I'm not a liberal, I'm an American."[23]
Criticism of the Bush Administration
In Olbermann's "Special Comment" segment on July 3, 2007, he called President George W. Bush's commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence the "last straw", and called for the resignation of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Olbermann said:
Feud with Bill O'Reilly
Olbermann's show on MSNBC occupies the same time slot as Bill O'Reilly's ''The O'Reilly Factor'' on Fox News Channel. Olbermann has repeatedly named O'Reilly his “Worst Person in the World," naming him more than 60 times from June 2005 - August 2007. [21] O'Reilly has petitioned for the ousting of Olbermann from MSNBC and the return of Phil Donahue to Olbermann's time slot, stating that Donahue's ratings far exceeded Olbermann's.[25]
The feud blossomed with Olbermann's public celebration of O'Reilly's sexual harassment suit by former Fox News Channel producer Andrea Mackris;[26] he jokingly kept track of money his viewers pledged to buy the tapes from Mackris and ran a “Save the Tapes” campaign.
In March 2006, O'Reilly dropped a caller from his live radio show, seemingly for mentioning Olbermann's name. O'Reilly accused the caller of being part of a larger group of individuals that had been calling O'Reilly with the sole purpose of mentioning Olbermann. The caller said, “I like to listen to you during the day. I think Keith Olbermann's show…” when O'Reilly cut in, responding to “Mike” as follows:
While Westwood One broadcasts O'Reilly's radio show, the program does originate from Fox News Channel's New York City studios.[27] Olbermann noted that it would be unlawful for O'Reilly to send anyone to a listener's home for purposes of intimidation.
On a subsequent episode of ''Countdown'', Olbermann had "Mike" on as a guest to discuss the incident, and he denied that he had said anything obscene before O'Reilly cut him off. He did state that he was one of a group of individuals from the Web site "Calling All Wingnuts" who had decided to call into the O'Reilly show to voice their disagreement. He mentioned that a woman from that group was upset by a call from the same "Fox News Security" official.[28]
Olbermann has gone on (on August 30, September 5, September 11, and November 1 commentaries) from criticizing O'Reilly to confronting the Bush administration directly. In a recent “Worst Person in the World” segment, Olbermann said, “I'm sorry, Bill. I can't play with you right now. I have bigger fish to fry.”[29]
According to ''The New York Times'', O'Reilly eventually stopped criticizing Olbermann on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', but Fox News spokeswoman Irina Briganti has released the following public statement in response:
A press release by NBC indicates that ratings for ''Countdown'' are up significantly since Fox’s 2006 statement.
While attending a Television Critics Association breakfast session on July 22, 2006, Olbermann was photographed holding up "an O’Reilly mask while raising his right arm in a Nazi salute." [30] The next week, while a guest on ''The Tonight Show'' with Jay Leno, Olbermann was asked to comment on the photo, which had appeared on the ''Drudge Report''. Olbermann said he had been waving to a friend, though he added that "Bill O'Reilly has defended the Nazis from World War II on three separate occasions."
[31][32] Olberman's comments referred to an episode of ''The O'Reilly Factor'', in which O'Reilly stated that American troops were the aggressors in the Malmedy massacre.
On July 28, 2006, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sent an open letter to Olbermann at MSNBC stating, "We are deeply dismayed by your ongoing use of the Nazi 'Sieg Heil' salute, both on your program and in public appearances…" The letter explains that Olbermann's use of the salute prompted many complaints from its members, including Holocaust survivors, and that any use of it "serves to trivialize the Holocaust and the six million Jews and others who died as a result of Hitler's Final Solution." The letter closed by asking Olbermann to "reconsider [his] use of the Nazi salute in the future."[33]
Olbermann had written a year earlier in his weblog that Nazi references have "no place...in this culture" and "the analogies are wrong, offensive, and deeply hurtful" when used in partisan politics.[34]
Other news journalism
Olbermann was a fill-in for newscaster Paul Harvey. The September 11, 2001 attacks provided the impetus for Olbermann to return to full-fledged news reporting. He won an Edward R. Murrow Award for reporting from the site of the attacks for 40 days on ABC Radio and Los Angeles radio station KFWB.[35]
Olbermann wrote a weekly column for Salon.com from July 2002 until early 2003.[36]
Baseball historian and fan
Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport, with membership in the Society for American Baseball Research.[37] He is also a well known vintage baseball card collector, particularly of T-206 tobacco cards and other rare cards, such as the very rare 2006 Alex Gordon rookie card.[38] He argues that New York Giants baseball player Fred Merkle should not be denied inclusion into the Baseball Hall of Fame because of a baserunning mistake."[39] He contributed the foreword to ''More Than Merkle'' (ISBN 0-8032-1056-6), a book requesting amnesty for Merkle's error, also known as the "Merkle Boner". Olbermann was also one of the founders of the first experts' fantasy baseball league. He was one of the founders of the ''USA Today Baseball Weekly'' Labr league, giving the league its nickname (LABR stands for League of Alternative Baseball Reality).[40]
Because of his extensive baseball knowledge, Olbermann is a consultant to Topps, the baseball card manufacturer. Topps allowed him to open the first pack of 2007 baseball cards on ''Countdown'' the week before they hit stores. The first card of the pack was Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees.
Anti-smoking
On Monday, August 8, 2005, the day following Peter Jennings’s death from lung cancer, Olbermann revealed on-air that he had a benign fibrous tumor removed from his palate just 10 days earlier. In an explicit monologue, he attributed his tumor directly to his 27-year habit of smoking pipes and cigars. He vigorously urged his viewers not to wait until they see symptoms to quit. "Do whatever you have to do to stop smoking — now. While it's easier."[41]
This marked the beginning of "I Quit," once a recurring segment on ''Countdown'' which offered anti-smoking tips and encouragement. On August 16, 2005, Olbermann's NBC colleague Mike Taibbi joined him for "I Quit" to discuss kicking the habit.[42][43]
Other television appearances
★ He appeared in a cameo as himself in an episode of NBC's ''Surface''.[44]
★ He appeared in a series of television commercials for the Boston Market restaurant chain in 1997, in which he tells a bunch of Calvin-Klein type models to "eat something"
★ A self-described fan of the Fox animated television sitcom ''Family Guy'', he announced in June 2006 on the Dan Patrick Show that he had recorded some voice tracks to be used in an upcoming episode of the series. ("It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One", featuring Olbermann as a character named Bob Grossbeard,[45] aired on May 13, 2007.) Also, Seth MacFarlane (creator of the animated Family Guy series) guested on Countdown on January 19, 2007 to discuss Stephen Colbert's appearance on ''The O'Reilly Factor'' and O'Reilly's subsequent appearance on ''The Colbert Report''. Olbermann had previously appeared on ''The Colbert Report'' himself, and discussed his disputes with O'Reilly.
★ On October 3, 2006, Olbermann appeared on ''The Late Show with David Letterman''.
★ Olbermann appears, with Dan Patrick, in the opening segment of the Hootie & the Blowfish music video ''Only Wanna Be With You''.[46]
★ On February 23, 2007, he appeared on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''.
★ On February 25, 2007, he was featured in the "Cable Guy" segment on ''CBS Sunday Morning''.
★ On June 27, 2007, Olbermann and Patrick appeared on ''The Late Show with David Letterman''.
★ On the HBO series Big Love, Olbermann appeared in Season 2, Episode 9 ("Swing Vote Margene") as himself during a fictitious newscast.
Bibliography
★ ''Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values'' (Random House, to be released December 26, 2007)
★ ''The Worst Person In the World and 202 Strong Contenders'' (Wiley, September 2006). ISBN 0-470-04495-0.
★ ''Deadball Stars of the National League'' (Potomac Books, February 2004). ISBN 1-57488-860-9. — Foreword written by Olbermann.
★ ''More Than Merkle: A History of the Best and Most Exciting Baseball Season in Human History'' (University of Nebraska Press, April 2000). ISBN 0-8032-1056-6. — Foreword written by Olbermann.
★ ''Stats 1999 Baseball Scoreboard'' (STATS, March 1999). ISBN 1-884064-62-0. — Foreword written by Olbermann.
★ ''The Big Show: Inside ESPN's Sportscenter'' (Atria, 1997). ISBN 0-671-00918-4.
★ ''The Major League Coaches: 1921-1973'' (Card Memorabilia Associates, 1973).
References
1. Countdown transcript from August 2, 2007
2. Counting Down With Keith Olbermann '79 Eric Finkelstein
3. IMDB Biography of Keith Olbermann
4. 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for May 7
5. Despite scorched bridges, Olbermann rejoins ESPN Michael Hiestand
6. ESPN:Mea culpa Keith Olbermann
7. Keith and Dan with Dave
8. Patrick to leave ESPN; next career move unknown USA Today July 9, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2007
9. KEITH OLBERMANN NAMED CO-HOST, NBC'S 'FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA'
10. Despite scorched bridges, Olbermann rejoins ESPN
11. Welcome to Bloggerman Keith Olbermann
12. It's 'Putdown With Keith Olbermann' Katherine Thomson
13. MSNBC’s Star Carves Anti-Fox Niche Bill Carter
14. "Q1 #'s: Q1 2007 vs. Q1 2006"
15. "Q1 #'s: Q1 2007 vs. Q1 2006"
16. Keith Olbermann, NBC agree on 'second term'
17. The Olbermann Factor Alex Koppelman
18. Bill O'Reilly And NBC, Shouting to Make Themselves Seen? Howard Kurtz
19. NBC HIRES A LEFT-WING DEMAGOGUE
20. NewsBusters blog entries about Keith Olbermann
21. The “Worst” of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann
22. 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Oct. 25th
23. Anchor Olbermann counts on commentary to boost MSNBC's ratings Mackenzie Carpenter
24. The “Worst” of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann
25. Bring Back Donahue
26. Mackris' complaint v. O'Reilly, official document
27. Westwood One's Web site for ''Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly''
28. Olbermann interview of O'Reilly caller Mike Stark on Countdown
29. Salon.com interview of Keith Olbermann where he references making “bigger fish to fry” comment a few days previous.
30. Flash!: Olbermann Mocks O'Reilly, ''Broadcasting & Cable'', July 22 2006
31. Transcript Of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann', ''MSNBC'', July 27 2006
32. Saunders: Media ego clash escalates Dusty Saunders
33. ADL Letter to MSNBC
34. Enough with the Nazi references!, ''MSNBC'', June 22 2005
35. 2003 EDWARD R. MURROW NATIONAL WINNERS
36. Index of Olbermann's Salon columns
37. Baseball's greatest Ambassador: Buck O'Neil (Keith Olbermann) Keith Olbermann
38. That Guy Olbermann's A Real Card!
39. Justice for Merkle: Keith Olbermann's crusade helps salvage Merkle's rep Stan Isaacs
40. 'Tis the season to project stats Jonah Keri
41. Video clip of Olbermann's smoking monologue
42. Video clip of Mike Taibbi "I quit" segment on ''Countdown''
43. “Flush the Butts” Bloggerman Entry from August 8, 2005.
44. Surface: Episode 11
45. Olbermann on Family Guy
46. Warner Music Group
External links
★ ''Countdown'' with Keith Olbermann Front Page
★ The News Hole, the blog of ''Countdown''
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