The Other McCain

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Report: Keith Olbermann Refuses to Apologize for Giving Money to Democrats and Looking at Demi Lovato Bikini Pics

Posted on | November 7, 2010 | 9 Comments

But mainly it was the giving-money-to-Democrats thing:

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.

Via Glynnis MacNicol at Mediaite, who points out Steve Krakauer’s observation about MSNBC ratings:

Rachel Maddow is getting better ratings than Olbermann in the key A25-54 demographic, and Lawrence O’Donnell isn’t far behind. Olbermann is no longer the center of the strategy either – as the network has unveiled a vibrant, massive new campaign “Lean Forward” which focuses on half a dozen members of the MSNBC talent pool.

On the other hand, Olbermann — who is actually older than me, and I just turned 51 — recently spent a couple of years banging 20-something reporterette Katy Tur (he actually interviewed her on “Countdown” earlier this year) but, hey, NTTAWWT. And now that dysfunctional Disney princess Demi Lovato is 18, there’s no reason that Keith should be forced to apologize on air for checking out her bikini picture:

On the other hand, the executives at MSNBC might be troubled to learn that their $7-million-a-year prime-time anchor — with a demonstrable predilection for cradle-robbing — actually checked out Demi Lovato’s bare rump.

Mr. Olbermann, you should feel ashamed of yourself for looking at that picture. Of course, it’s not as bad as donating money to Raul Grijalva, but it’s probably worse than banging Katy Tur.

UPDATE: Looking at cable ratings, I’m having a hard time figuring how Olbermann, who draws fewer than 400,000 viewers in the 24-54 demo on an average night is worth $7 million a year, unless Bill O’Reilly (whose audience is at least three times bigger) is getting $21 million a year, which I think he isn’t.

Granted, Olbermann is more . . . uh, interesting to watch than that insipid idiot Chris Mattews, but if TV salaries are negotiated in a competitve marketplace, you’re going to have a hard time justifying $7 million a year for Olbermann — as a matter of pure economics, at least.

Suppose that MSNBC had refused to pay Olbermann the $7 million his agent demanded: “If you don’t give us $7 million, we’ll take our act to CNN.” OK, so Olbermann jumps to the 8 p.m. slot on CNN and MSNBC moves Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell into the 8 p.m. slot. Even if Olbermann’s ratings on CNN are somewhat higher than his MSNBC replacement’s ratings (and I’m not sure that would be the case), wouldn’t the cost savings in terms of salary — Rachel Maddow is reportedly paid $1 million a year — be worth it?

The idea that Olbermann is such a hot commodity that MSNBC must bid for his services, lest he jump ship to another network, is an iffy proposition at best. And I just don’t see how MSNBC executives can justify paying Olbermann seven times what it pays Maddow, who hasn’t been accused of checking out Demi Lovato’s rump. Yet.

UPDATE II: I’m pretty sure Matt Lewis has never checked out Demi Lovato’s rump:

UPDATE III: Progressives rally on behalf of their multimillionaire middle-aged cradle-robbing hero:

As of Sunday night, 275,000 people had signed an online petition to reinstate the talk show host.

Wow — 275,000 people. That’s more than two-thirds of MSNBC’s entire prime-time viewership.

UPDATE IV: Rachel Maddow is in denial:

Maddow . . . sought to dispel the argument that MSNBC is a leftie version of Fox News.
“Their network is run as a political operation. Ours isn’t,” Maddow said.
“Yeah, Keith’s a liberal, and so am I. But we’re not a political operation – Fox is. We’re a news operation.”

So, she’s against turning broadcast news into “a political operation,” but she’s OK with Keith Olbermann giving money to Raul Grijalva and dating chicks barely older than Demi Lovato. It’s important that we know where the line is drawn.

Category: Celebrities, MSNBC, Rule 5, Scandal

Comments

9 Responses to “Report: Keith Olbermann Refuses to Apologize for Giving Money to Democrats and Looking at Demi Lovato Bikini Pics”

  1. Anonymous
    November 8th, 2010 @ 1:08 am

    Definitely more pics of the chick in the bikini. She is Rule 5 material. Hawwwwwt!