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Keith Olbermann’s Critics Smell Blood in the Water

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by Tommy Christopher | 1:46 pm, February 4th, 2010

» 39 comments

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the burning question “Is Keith Olbermann Losing it?” While I was concerned more with the Countdown host’s loosening perspective, several media critics have since wondered if the show’s ratings portend its imminent demise. As the LA Times’ Andrew Malcolm puts it, are we counting down the last days of Countdown? More importantly, can Countdown be saved? Yup and here’s how.

Malcolm notes that Countdown’s 25-54 year-old audience demo ratings have shrunk 44% since the President’s term began, and points to a January demo loss to Nancy Grace. I’ll get to the ratings in a minute, but Malcolm also points out this cause for concern:

Worst, Olbermann’s network president, Phil Griffin, is publicly praising him, always an ominous sign in television. While referring to his host almost in the past tense. “Keith has been our tentpole,” Griffin says, adding later, “I’m pleased with where we are.”

While Malcolm’s status as a past Worst Person goes unmentioned here, he makes some solid points about Countdown’s tea leaves. On the other hand, while he points out Keith’s dust-up with Joe Scarborough, he neglects to mention that it was Scarborough, not Olbermann, who faced rebuke by the network. Olbermann was clearly in the driver’s seat there.

Now, about those ratings. TV by the numbers put Countdown in 3rd place, behind HLN’s Nancy Grace, in demo viewers in January, while Daily Finance had him with a narrow lead over Grace. All of this led Keith to address the ratings issue in his Worst Persons segment Tuesday:

See what he did there?

This is the thing about ratings. We get press releases from the networks all the time, and they all manage to pull out a silver lining somehow. Since the demo story isn’t so rosy for Keith, he went with “total viewers.”

Another problem, however, is embedded in that clip in the form of the swipe he takes at Daily Finance, which drew a sharp rebuke. The numbers by themselves are not that alarming, but when coupled with his recent game of chicken with Jon Stewart, along with the ascent of lead-out Rachel Maddow as the new face of the cable news left, there is reason for concern.

Olbermann rose to prominence by serving an underserved audience, but that’s not the case anymore. In order to recapture his past glory, Keith needs to focus on putting on a good show, not pandering to a now-diffuse audience. That audience might have shown up for the politics, but they stayed because Keith’s show was funny, smart, and had an appealing format.

Keith acknowledged to Jon Stewart that he might need to lighten up a little. He should also consider freshening up the show’s format. As it stands, it relies too heavily on talking head segments in which the heads always agree with Keith. They need to shorten those, and throw in an even-tempered conservative or two. Ed Morrissey and Matt Lewis come to mind.

Recently, Countdown did away with the “Best Persons” segment, and added the “Quick Comments.” I would reverse that calculus, and throw in two more branded segments to replace the “quick comments.”

Finally, I think the show needs to focus more on media criticism, and less on partisan politics. He’s already sandwiched by shows that do that better. Keith has a deeply evident love of journalism, and his show’s format works better when it’s providing clarity, rather than just amplifying what Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow are talking about.

andrew malcolm, ed morrissey, ed schultz, keith olbermann, matt lewis, Rachel Maddow, Tommy Christopher

sarainitaly

“Keith has been our tentpole,”

From what I’ve read on Page Six, that must be one little tent. http://www.instantrimshot.com/

He definitely needs to get out of his echo chamber format. I would love to see what happens when he goes one on one with some conservatives.

I just can’t stand him. He seems angry, way too partisan, and completely unstable. He comes across mean and hateful. And who wants to watch that?
m

> They need to shorten those, and throw in an even-tempered conservative or two.

Not necessary at all. Keith’s show isn’t for talking heads-debate. That’s what Hardball is for. Countdown is for 1 on 1 interviews and Keith’s commentary.
Puter Boi

T.C.

If you have followed Olbermann’s career you know many of his jobs have ended with his hissy fits…storming out of meetings…blaming co-workers and management for his show’s failings….then there is a huge blowup and he disappears for a time. Might be fun to see what the odds are in Vegas for Countdown’s recovery or for it’s demise. I believe he will be there for a time…but when the end comes it will be loud…and it will be fun to watch.
roxsteady

One of the reasons I like Countdown is because he doesn’t bring on any of those conservative idiots. It’s a waste of time because you get the same talking points from these people. Think, Susan Collins yesterday on Andrea Mitchell’s where Mitchell under cut Collins’ argument with some fact. And what did Susan do after Mitchell pointed out her errors? She went right back to the talking point she’d just made. Or, think Ron Christie who, worked for Dick Cheney on Ed Shultz’s show. No matter what facts you hit them with, they just pivot and hit you with talking points. Of course, I’d love to see Liz Cheney go on Rachel Maddow. She’s invited her several times but, I guess she’s afraid of Rachel too.
TfT

Liz Cheney afraid of Rachel? Bwaahahahaha

There are lots of articles running around the internet about the fate of Olbermann….I think Phil Griffin is getting sick and tired of taking his orders from Keith and wants to get rid of him.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

I’ve commented a few times that I don’t watch Olbermann, even though I’d probably agree with him more than 90% of the time. I’ve said that his style of delivery comes across as didactic, which I find very oft-putting because a lot of what he does is use a bunch of words to describe things that his audience already knows or they already believe, while doing it in a somewhat condescending manner.

Something I have not publicly said, but which goes along with your point about guests; Whenever I flash by or stop for a few seconds, he’s often talking to someone relatively young from the web. (The joke around my house is that he met them in an internet chatroom. Chris Hansen is conducting an investigation)

While as a blogger and as someone who voraciously consumes blog output, I don’t have a problem with the concept of incorporating voices from new media in general. My concern is that he seems to rely too much on the same players, whom you could just read, if you care what they thought or if you respect their opinions. And, I’ll add that if he’d like to attract more from the upper half of the demographic, it wouldn’t hurt if some of these voices (from any media) were a little older.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

er… substitute “experienced” for that last “older”. It more accurately reflects my meaning.
dhg

So he shouldn’t have on conservatives because of talking points etc but should have on liberals and let their talking points roll on?Olbermann has done what he was here to do and it’s over now.Bush is gone and the GOP is down.He won’t go after Dems or Libs so what can he do now?He’s a sportscaster who for reasons I’ll never understand was put into a role he has no credentials for.In the meantime it turned out he was a total jerk and goes ballistic regularly.

The question here is why should his show continue.It’s unbalanced and used as a weapon for Olbermann’s personal issues and to attack anyone who might be critical of him or his show or even suggest the show is failing.What purpose does that serve for NBC?

Olbermann thinks he’s smarter than you.He preaches to a choir that doesn’t need to be preached to.He will never change a single mind.It’s time for NBC/MSNBC to use the timeslots he fills for something better.
roxsteady

Sorry to burst your bubble but, yes, she’s been repeatedly invited on the show by Rachel on the air. By the way, as the writer of this post notes, it was Olbermann who was in the dirver’s seat. Griffin asked Keith if he thought Scarborough should be further punished and Keith said no. It was Scarborough who tweeted about Keith’s comments on Scott Brown, violating an MSNBC policy. Since Scarborough’s show is dead last in cable morning show ratings, it would appear that he is the one who should be careful. He still has his job but, with the knowledge that it’s, but for the grace of Olbermann that he wasn’t suspended.
writer

Instead of getting all of his guests from the Daily Kos or the Huffington Post, I think the show could save money by simply getting one of those plastic birds that dips its beak in the water, then nods till it needs water again. As long as Keith sees someone agreeing with him, he’s happy. I do think his ‘worst persons in the world’ segment could use a little tweaking. In a world with the likes of Bin Laden, Kim Jong Il, Alexander Putin, et al, it seems the worst person Keith can ever think of is Bill O’Reilly. Perhaps he should rename the segment “The worst person opposite my own show’.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

@dhg: As I posted above, I’m somewhat put off by the current Countdown show, but back during his previous MSNBC run and in the early days of his current show, I’d occasionally compare his skill of writing to Lloyd Dobyns.

IOW: He’s a good writer and that’s why he could merit a show.
roxsteady

Guests:
Richard Wolfe
Howard Fineman
Euguen Robinson
Jonathan Alter
Markos Moulitsas (Iraq War Vet)

Young people?
roxsteady

Keith and Rachel’s ratings are still the highest on the network. Obviously it’s not fox ratings but, their shows are the highest rated and Scarborough’s is the lowest. The reason I like his format is because he brings a guest on and they discuss the political issues. They don’t distort the facts, like Beck saying that he didn’t use the word slaughter. Keith simply cued the video tape that Beck could have done himself if he were interested in honesty. As for the name calling, how is it any different when Bill O refers to people as pin heads, or worse Tiller the Baby Killer?
Lurker

He needs to quit being a coward and debate people.
writer

If O’Reilly had said that Obama is “clean and articulate” or that he sometimes “forgets he’s black”, Olbermann would’ve had to be placed on life support. As it is, his show needs to be on life support. Someone once said that being the highest rated on MSNBC is like being the biggest seller of bras for six year olds.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

@roxsteady: Maybe it’s just an issue of timing, but off the top of my head, Markos and Christopher Hayes are two of those whom I would describe as “less experienced”
roxsteady

Chris Hayes and Markos are young but, they are just 2 people
Lurker, if you think Keith is a coward, what do you think about Palin ducking all media but fox and Liz Cheney ducking Rachel Maddow? And I’m talking about Palin, prior to her taking a job as a fox analysts?
germ

roxsteady says:
February 4, 2010 at 2:57 pm

Markos Moulitsas (Iraq War Vet)

Don’t lie. He was out of the army in 1992 and just missed the first Gulf War, by his own words, “by a hair.”

Wikipedia
Grammie

Just a few graphs that illustrate what I think is a big part of KO’s poor showing week in and week out:

January Chart Proves Keith Olbermann: Still a Liar!
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2010/02/january_chart_p.php#comments

The Olbermann Week That Was: By the Numbers
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2010/02/the_olbermann_w_14.php#comments

The Olbermann Week That Was: By the Numbers
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2010/01/the_olbermann_w_13.php#comments

And than there is always this charming aspect of his public persona:

Olbermann Goes Paranoid, Lashes Out at Kos Writer for Criticizing Him!
http://www.olbermannwatch.com/archives/2010/01/olbermann_goes_1.php#comments

Although his faithful followers all but worship him that group is shrinking and I’m confident that sooner or later he will go off the deep end even for him and MSNBC will have to protect what is left of their brand. Of course I’ve thought several times that he had finally crossed that line while he just breezed past waving.

“Al Qaeda really hurt us, but not as much as Rupert Murdoch has hurt us, particularly in the case of Fox News. Fox News is worse than Al Qaeda — worse for our society. It’s as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan ever was.

- Keith Olbermann in the October 2007 issue of Playboy…”

There was this from you,Tommy:

“Keith Olbermann really let Michelle Malkin have it in Countdown’s “Worst Persons” segment last night, calling the conservative rabble-rouser a “big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it,” while decrying her “fascistic hatred.”

http://www.mediaite.com/online/olbermann-calls-michelle-malkin-a-lipsticked-meatbag-malkin-responds/

There’s lots more but these two make the point, I think.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

@roxsteady: As I said, it may be an issue of timing and perhaps they often appear at the same minute point, which is why I tend to see them when I flash by.

But still, I’d have no problem with the inclusion of new voices. It’s more Olbermann’s delivery that puts me off. He talks to his audience like they’re idiots and not people knowledgeable enough on the subject of politics, they’re watching a news show instead of entertainment programming.

The age/experience thing just makes better for a Chris Hansen/chatroom joke.
Cecelia

Keith doesn’t have a “deep evident love for journalism”. He has a deep evident love for elitism.

He has then ever since he was lying on the rug in his parent’s living room watching the great and wise anchors and listening to the Watergate hearings. He dreamed he was one of the cool kids like Carl Bernstein.

In order to get the show structure that you think will save Countdown (I’m not at all sure it’s in trouble, really), you’re going to have to get a new host, Tommy.

You’re going to have to get an anchor who truly loves ideas rather than pointing the finger at the cootie kids, and you’re going to have to get a host who is willing to entertain an idea, notion, and a thought that doesn’t look as nearly like him as he can manage.

That ain’t the misanthrope egocentric Keith Olbermann.

In order to save Countdown you’re going to have a Countdown without Keith Olbermann, and that won’t work either. Keith’s entire audience is built around their enamoring of him. That they do is the only Olbermann stands THEM. Keith’s audience loves Keith, wants to think like Keith… wants to bully people like Keith…wants to tell themselves that they’re the cream of the crop and moral colossi, just as Keith tells himself.

They aren’t going to watch Countdown without Keith.

In Countdown, Keith Olbermann has built a world where he is God (as he probably tries to do in every aspect of his life). He’s not going to share that role with anyone else.

If Keith Olbermann goes down, then Countdown forever goes down with him.
The Real Royal King

I’m not sure it much matters what happens with “Countdown” or Olbermann, but at a minimum the show needs to be reformatted. WPIT was old the second night. The final segment is a waste. The special comments have long since been anything but. I think it can all be saved, but I doubt it’s worth the effort.
TfT

If the show stays on the air, as I expect it will, perhaps they should just rename it: MELTDOWN. It’s certainly more fitting to KO’s actions.
http://www.youtube.com/cmdrgmh cmdrgmh

Ya know, all you right wingers just stay watching for lord and god Billo the Clown. At least Keith’s show is Live and Unedited. Billo just slaughtered the Jon Stewart interview sliced and diced and would’nt even let stewart answer the questions. Also Keith has done more with helping people then Oreilly ever has. He right now has been getting free clinics to go all over the country to get health care for people. He himself has given and keeps giving hundreds of thousands of dollars for people to get health care. Hell, he even gave a check to handicapped children in alaska live on air. So do your bitching, but at least we now have a network and a voice for liberals instead of hearing and being force fed right wing shit for many years.
Lurker

^

Funny….

All of BOR’s sales from his store goes to charity. So how is Olby’s hundreds of thousands compare to BOR’s millions and millions?
AikidoJoe

cmdrgmh says:
February 4, 2010 at 4:28 pm

O’Reilly gives 100% of all proceeds derived from his web site to charity. A list of those charities are here:
http://www.billoreilly.com/pg/jsp/billsfavorites/billscharities.jsp

It should also be noted that he was giving to that Haitian charity long before the earthquake. You may hate Bill, and that is fine, but you are lying when you say that Olbermann has done more for people than Bill.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Jones/1384303476 Chris Jones

Keith’s show is a failure because he never has anyone on who disagrees with him. He rotates the same lackies night after night who smile and nod in agreement with his every word. The entire focus of his show is not to inform but to attack and smear Republicans, Conservatives, and anyone else not in love with Barack Obama.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Jones/1384303476 Chris Jones

Also, how long is going to keep telling the audience as he signs off how many days it’s been since Bush declared “Mission Accomplished in Iraq”. Bush is not even in office and we’re leaving Iraq this year. How many administrations into the future is Keith going to keep the “mission accomplished” thing alive?
TfT

This story has legs, popping up more and more around the web.

Last night he once again was under the 1M mark in total viewers.
m

Fox News’s ratings sucked majorly first too. MSNBC hasn’t been a fully liberal network for barely a year. It’s got plenty of time to grow a nightly loyal audience.
Lurker

^

HAHAHAHA

That’s the new excuse?
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

PS) @Tommy: It’s also kind of interesting that when Brian used to be TVNewser, he was often criticized for playing up the demographic numbers and buying into the MSNBC narrative because it helped them and didn’t reflect well on Fox, but now Keith’s the one talking about total viewers.

I guess it just goes to show that if you wait long enough, things will go full circle.
SteveMG

Fortunately, if the situation were reversed Mr. Olbermann wound never be crowing or be gleeful over the demise of his critics.

No. He’s not that type of guy.

If my sarcasm was any heavier, this page you’re reading would be crashing downward to the center of the Earth.
da-wdc

I’m as liberal as Olbermann (maybe more) but I can’t stand to watch him – I would rather even watch O’Reilly (when he’s interviewing someone interesting, but not when he’s talking to Goldberg/Morris/Miller, that’s pretty dull). When he is petty enough to even attack TV critics who are just writing news stories about ratings, that’s sad. He even goes to Daily Kos and attacks people who criticize him. He’s smart and talented, but the show’s not funny anymore, unless you think it’s humorous to point and laugh at someone Keith doesn’t like.
http://www.youtube.com/cmdrgmh cmdrgmh

I have 2 words for your God, Billo The Clown. Andrea Makris. Ask your God about that.
puck30

I have more words for your god, Olby. Suzy Kobler, Mary Cary, Rebbeca Lobo. Ask your god about that!
puck30

His contract has little more then a year to go on it. So he’s not going anywhere. It will be interesting a year from now if his ratings are still where they are and O’Reilly’s numbers are through the roof and Olby is asking for O’Reilly money.

Yes, he is number 1 at MSNBC but, if he leaves. Where is he going to go? Hope he invested his money well.
writer

There will always be a place set at Bill Ayers’ table.
Jelperman

The only thing Olbermann’s critics smell is their own concern-trolling flatulence.