On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 2:52 AM, PGage wrote: > > On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 9:00 PM, Wesley McGee wrote: > >> Well, in a move that's only surprising in the speed that it is happening, >> it has now escalated to the lawyers... >> >> >> http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/keith-olbermann-quits-current-tv-lawyers-278146 >> >> I'm guessing by the URL slug, THR initially believed KO quit Current >> before posting the current version of the story... which is Olbermann is >> disgruntled but still employed. >> > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/business/media/olbermann-in-a-clash-at-new-job.html > > "He (KO) declined Current’s requests to host special hours of election > coverage, apparently out of frustration about technical difficulties that > have plagued his 8 p.m. program, “Countdown.” The channel decided to > produce election shows without him. Mr. Olbermann, however, said he did not > know that, and on Tuesday, the day of the Iowa caucus, the cold war of > sorts reached a flash point. He held a staff meeting even though > “Countdown” had been pre-empted. Perceiving it to be an act of defiance, > David Bohrman, Current’s president, wrote a memo to Mr. Olbermann’s staff > telling them that the anchor had long ago given up the opportunity to > anchor on election nights. “We assumed,” he wrote, that “Keith had > communicated to you.” > > “Countdown” was back on the schedule on Wednesday, and Current declined to > comment about Mr. Olbermann’s status at the channel. But the struggle for > control — which Mr. Olbermann talked about on Twitter — hints at turmoil > behind the scenes at Current and highlights how hard it can be to build big > media brands around unpredictable personalities.(SNIP) > > When the channel put on Iowa caucus coverage without Mr. Olbermann on > Tuesday, it was derided by online commenters as cheaply produced; “the > production values were only slightly better than local public access,” > wrote Jonah Goldberg of the conservative National Review, calling it > “hilarious.” (SNIP) Mr. Olbermann did not directly cite production values > as a reason for his absence, but he said in a statement to The Hollywood > Reporter, “I was not given a legitimate opportunity to host under > acceptable conditions.” (SNIP) >
In the NYTimes article, they obliquely noted some an executive change that may have poisoned the working relationship. The Wrap goes into further detail. http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/rift-between-olbermann-and-current-tv-deepens- ‘everybody-replaceable’-34091 The problems can be traced back to the ouster of CEO Mark Rosenthal in August, according to a knowledgeable individual. > “When Joel Hyatt bounced Mark Rosenthal so Hyatt could take his job, > that’s when things turned out to be difficult,” one individual close to the > situation said. “Once Rosenthal was out, there was no one with TV experience. David Bohrman has never run a news network.” Bohrman produced multiple news shows on CNN and ABC. Olbermann and Rosenthal had developed a close working relationship as they attempted to transform Current into a destination for political news and analysis. The decision to bring in Uygur and Granholm as hosts was Bohrman's. > As he reportedly did at MSNBC, Olbermann has insisted on controlling every > facet of his program -- Wesley McGee http://www.ambivi.com http://sterlingnorth.vox.com http://drawing-a-blank.tumblr.com Twitter: @westwit G+: http://plus.google.com/113413697748381364954 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wesleymcgee -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
