Olbermann Can't Resist Debunking Bill O'Reillys Athletic Career Again: "I still own your head, Bill"

[jeff47]

6. The people running the networks do not want him

Petition all you want, the people running the networks do not want him talking about politics.

And given the demographics of people who currently watch "News" channels, that's not an entirely unfounded position. TV is selling a product - viewer eyeballs are being sold to advertisers.

Most of the people Olbermann could attract do not currently watch news channels, and likely would not change that behavior due only to Olbermann. Which means they wouldn't see the ads, and thus not bring in revenue. Sure, it's possible Olbermann could reverse that trend, but even when he was on MSNBC he wasn't getting "the demo" anywhere near as well as The Daily Show.

The old business model of TV is dying off, and no one has any idea what to do about it. So TV executives are going to keep clinging to things that used to work, and people who still watch TV regularly, out of desperation. Olbermann doesn't fit well in that situation.

Eventually, something new will arise from the wreckage to take TV's place. But we don't know what that is yet. Current leader is content over the Internet, but that isn't generating anywhere near the money that TV is still making, probably because companies vastly overrate the ROI on TV advertising while Internet streaming lets you see if the ads really work.