CBS hit piece on Olbermann

[pintobean]

Keith Olbermann: Paid $10 Million to Lose Viewers

Keith Olbermann is not in the witness protection program, but he might as well be. His show on Al Gore’s Current TV (America’s least watched network) has lost nearly a third of its viewers in four months.

Pretty impressive result for $10 million a year. That’s just his salary.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann was a major draw when it was on MSNBC. On January 21, the network took a big hit when Olbermann announced on air that that would be his last show for them. Then in June, Current launched Olbermann and Countdown.

It was no surprise that Olbermann drew a big audience for its early shows - averaging 106,000 viewers a night. Unfortunately, by August it was down to 79,000. Last month’s numbers were even worse. Olbermann’s average was down to 46,000 viewers and was in no danger of coming close to breaking into the top 30 cable TV news shows. None of the top 30 is all that impressive in terms of audience when judged against non-pundit TV shows. For the third quarter of this year No.1 Bill O’Reilly averaged 2.8 million viewers, while No. 30 - the 12 AM showing of Dr. Drew on HLN - had 435,000. For comparison, Charlie’s Angels got 5.9 million viewers last week and a cancellation.

More:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/sports-entertainment/keith-olbermann-paid-10-million-to-lose-viewers/1680


Edit to add the Urban Dictionary definition of hit piece:
"an attempt to turn public opinion against someone/something through the appearance of objective reporting or editorializing."
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hit%20piece

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. Is it a hit piece if it contains facts? nt

[pintobean]

2. " Keith Olbermann is not in the witness protection program"

is a fact. He's also not laying eggs out his left nostril.

[TheWraith]

7. It may be snarky humor, but it's not a hit piece.

A hit piece would be suggesting or stating that Keith's ratings were bad when they weren't. In fact, his ratings ARE pretty bad.

[brooklynite]

3. Why is this a hit piece?

Media does stories on show performance all the time. This is the business component of CBS, not the politics or lead news section, where there'd be greater exposure for a story intended to be "hit piece". Or are you disputing either the ratings or the payment data?

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Snark and selection

Current tv viewership is way up, it is in far less homes than the others, and only an idiot would compare the other outlets- established and plateaued-with Current-new and growing.
keith is doing the best OWS coverage in any medium as well.

[Bandit]

29. Why are they even talking about Keith Olberman?

They are doing a Hit Piece. He has not made news in any fashion. They are not doing a biography/documentary about him. They say nothing positive about him in this short piece, so what do you think is their motivation if not running a "hit piece"?

[itsallhappening]

30. Why does anyone talk about him?

He's been pushed over to what is almost cable access TV because he can't keep a job.

[Bandit]

37. He had his last job for well over a decade how about you?

How many jobs has Keith "lost"? I would bet any amount of money he has "kept" more jobs than you, and for a much longer duration....

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blogslut]

4. The story is definitely shaded by the author's bias against Current TV.

Couched within the snark is there actual positive news - Keith has doubled the viewership of Current.

[tech5270]

14. Therein lies the truth

I couldn't get Current if I paid $150/mo for cable. When a network doesn't have the distribution, it doesn't matter how good the programming is, you can't get the viewership. Ever wonder why RW radio is on 50KW stations all around the country with the same shows on three or more stations in the same market? Someone is paying for it.
Ever try to find a terrestrial radio station that's progressive? There all on the 5KW or less stations that have to crank down their power when the sun goes down.

That's why you always hear that there's no market for progressive radio. They can never reach as many ears as the other side does.

My local cable system is really small but well equipped. They do probably 100 basic channels. If you go digital you've got mabey 100 more then 50 subscription, 100 music, HD duplications of everything video. Then there are probably 30 PPV. To get them to add Current I'd have to get at least 1/8 of subscribers to request it. I couldn't get that for a low power terrestrial station that's only 10 mi away.

[20score]

5. People on DU should be encouraging others to get and watch Current. It's a damn good channel.

[mod mom]

18. We watch it. I would bet summer months ratings are down on these shows

as people are enjoying the last remnants of good weather.

[grasswire]

6. example of bias:

"the network took a big hit when Olbermann announced on air that that would be his last show for them."

[FarLeftFist]

8. Does it even imply that most don't even get Current TV? I don't, and I live in NYC.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. Or maybe they should mention the MILLIONS Murdoch lost/spent before FoxNews was viable,

And maybe the liberals here should remember it before they agree with the hit "facts."

[originalpckelly]

19. Lost audience while on current.

This means among the people who could and did watch him, they lost viewers.

The show has poor production quality, and I just don't think we like to be told what to think. That's in part why Air America didn't do as well in my opinion.

[Demonaut]

22. it's improved a great deal, the first few weeks I had a hard time with the production quality

but I watch him every day and it is up to me whether I agree with everything he presents, same a with Maddow and ODonnell

on edit, Dish network

[GoCubsGo]

27. Air America failed because its owners didn't know what the hell they were doing.

Their failure had little to do with the quality of their programming--except for when the idiot owners ran off the hosts of some of their shows (e.g., Malloy, Seder).

[NYCGirl]

24. In NYC, on Time Warner Cable, Current is Channel 103.

And, I believe, Time Warner is the largest cable provider in NYC.

[McCamy Taylor]

10. I suspect that the Internet is more important to this show than the actual network, since so many

cable operators do not offer it.

[Firebrand Gary]

11. When they find out what's in the works at Current their tune will certainly change.

[Me.]

13. He Has Been Snarked Before And Had The Last Laugh

Current is purring together shows for Cenk and Jennifer Gtanholm. They're building a network. How long did it take CBS and they had the likes of Paley and the Bushes putting their muscle behind it.

[Blue_In_AK]

15. I'd watch him if my cable company provided Current TV.

They don't and have no plans to.

[bhcodem]

16. I agree with Blue_in_Arkansas

After repeatedly requesting Mediacom add Current, I finally switched to Directv. Meciacom's loss and I no longer have to sit at the computer to see Keith.

[originalpckelly]

17. Liberals/progressives we're just not as down with the mindless zombie bot...

shit.

We really don't like it when people tell us what to think.

[southernyankeebelle]

20. I still watch his show. He tells it like it is.

[JPZenger]

21. Yes, they need to get on more cable systems

I have Verizon Fios and I don't get Current TV. My previous cable provider didn't provide it either (at least on the standard package).

[Greybnk48]

23. Countdown is as good as ever, or better because he has

more freedom. His contributor's are the best on T.V.: Markos from Kos, John Dean, Craig Crawford, etc. I absolutely never miss it.

In the last month he's called two people "assholes" on the show, Glenn Beck was one of them. He has the gloves off for sure. It may not be "appropriate" in some circles, but man, it is gratifying to hear SOMEONE telling it like it is in plain language.

[WI_DEM]

25. Current isn't exactly in a lot of markets or is it?

[bdamomma]

26. I still watch Keith on line

it's rough when you don't have Current TV and you live outside of the US. Just have to catch him on line.

[Little Star]

28. I think Keith's show on Current is much better than it was on MSNBC. n/t

[ThomWV]

31. I agree, we had pretty much quit watching it on MSNBC but watch every night on Current.

And the rest of the programing on Current is often well worth watching too. It used to be unusual for us to tune Current in, but now we watch every night and often check it out if the TV is on in the daytime.

[Avalux]

32. So what? I doubt Keith is concerned with the number of viewers....

if that were the case, he would have stayed at MSNBC and conformed to their restrictions.

This isn't so much a hit piece as trying to put relevance on viewership, which is of #1 relevance to corp. media.

[fascisthunter]

33. The COrporate Media(Servants of the 1%) on the Attack

of one man who supports populism. That is all this is... totally transparent and pathetic. We are winning the war on info folks, and they are scared. His numbers aren't important, but they want it to be.

[Township75]

34. I laugh reading comments about a "hit piece" from viewers of Olberman who calls people a-holes on...

his show.

This article isn't any different than Keith's show. It has facts, that some don't like...DEAL WITH IT! It makes snarky comments in an attempt at humor...so does Keith. Now people that watch him are in tears over this when the tables are turned.

Big fucking deal!

Unless those are not facts reported, the people who watched him at the beginning of his new show overwhelmingly are not watching now. Why?

[pintobean]

35. Ironic

btw - I can't stand Olberman, but I can recognize a hit piece.

[sarcasmo]

36. I don't think every cable company even carries current. With that being said

he was bound to loose percentage of viewers.