For those of you who have been suffering from Countdown withdrawal, your long wait is over. Today Keith Olbermann returns to the air with a new Countdown on Current Television, the cable network co-founded by Al Gore.
The show will air in the same 8pm slot and will initially reach 60 million homes.
I have known Keith for many years and he is a good friend. I am happy to see him launch his latest show and I have agreed to appear on the show. While I will continue to appear on other networks, I am delighted to be included in Keith’s new enterprise. He is one of this country’s most unique and talented voices. It will be great to have him holding forth on the issues of our time. Welcome back, Keith.
To find Current on your television, go to this site.
Source: NY Times
Jonathan Turley
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/06/olbermann-hints-he-could-hire-weiner-for-current-tv/
It’s great to see a voice of reason and sanity return. I’ll be watching.
So glad he is back – only issue is – as a college student – I have no access to Current TV and as of right now from what I can tell – They will not be posting the full show online to watch.
Good going…
I’d still like to know what caused him to jump from a network with majority market penetration to one with iffy, at best, coverage.
Frank, Comcast
Frank, MSNBC was no more popular, until Keith took off, than Current is now. He’ll build the network, just like he built MSNBC.
I’ll be on the road tonight, but my DVR will hold onto Keith’s debut until I get home.
Michael,
I am not positive but believe Hulu will carry it for free:
http://www.hulu.com/countdown-with-keith-olbermann
Welcome back to the air, KO and crew!
By the way, I loved your “corporate censorship” commercial. I saw it for the first time over the weekend. It was not just a reminder of why your voice is needed in the media, but hints at even greater things to come. Here’s to hoping you have plenty of occasions to make the Ghost of Murrow smile and the Shade of McCarthy cringe!
We just upgraded our cable package so we’ll be able to get Keith’s channel. I’m happy to hear you’ll be appearing on his program–also glad to hear that Matt Taibbi will also be a contributor.
No Olberman for me; I have cablevision.
Reportedly, you can subscribe to the show for free on itunes:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/19/986692/-For-Those-Who-Do-NOT-Have-Access-to-CurrentTV?via=search
Keith Olbermann,
I just watched the first show and let me give you my honest reaction by prefacing it with a bit of historical context.
I was originally drawn to your show on MSNBC by the frank and honest discussion about the malfunctions and maladies of the body politic. It was there that I was introduced to our host in this forum, the much respected Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley. I became a fan, but as time marched on, I noticed a subtle change to your show. The fire and honesty that attracted me in the first place was seemingly tempered by considerations that had more to do with business interests of the network’s parent company. Considerations I did not feel reflected the news as you wanted to present it, but were coerced into presenting it. Eventually I quit watching for it was a little bitter, like watching a tiger in a cage when your primary exposure was to their wild and free nature.
For this reason, I was most curious as to what your new show on Current would be like. Your promo spots that I saw just last weekend gave me hope and piqued my interest. Would KO and the Countdown crew bring back the fire? Or was their going to be more light than heat? What would the show be like without you and your team having corporate goons applying their behind the scenes machinations?
I am going to sum up my reaction to the results of your new found journalistic freedom with one word . . .
THRILLED!
That was one of the finest hours of news I’ve seen on television. Particular kudos to the analysis and commentary by your contributor John Dean. It was concise, accurate and honest. The mission statement as defined in your special commentary was clear and to the point. That the least person among us is more valuable as a citizen than the greatest of corporations is a message that I believe in with my whole being and a message I myself deliver here on Professor Turley’s blog on an almost daily basis with the aid of the steadfast cast of Turley Regulars. That truth and accountability still mean something and that We the People deserve a more honest and accountable government rather than the corporatist state we have become is both a common theme and a common posts in the threads of Res Ispa Loquitur. That freed from your cage, the tiger has returned to his wild ways in giving a clear and uncompromising televised voice to these shared concerns not only thrilled me. It not only is bringing me back to the fold of your regular viewers, Keith. It is not only providing a port of sane refuge in a world of corporate spun disinformation that passes itself off as real “news”. Tonight’s show gave me much more than that.
Hope.
Hope that the ideals of our Founding Fathers as exemplified by the Declaration of Independence still resonate with more people than me, my stalwart companions in blogging and our dutiful and conscientious readers here. Hope that the voice of reason is not dead. Hope that the fight for civil and human rights, a state that serves all of us by protecting the least of us, continues today. Hope that the dream to perfect that form of government of the people, for the people and by the people envisioned by men like Jefferson and Madison is not dead, but a vibrant living and ongoing dream into action.
I will be tuning in every night, good sir.
And even though I may watch all nine replays tonight, I’ll not hold you to your promises of delivering a pony. No! I shall not claim my short equine prize but instead request you keep those funds to continue bringing us Countdown free from corporatist bias.
Welcome back to the good fight.
If you’ll pardon my solecism, stay awhile.
We’ve got your back, Citizen Olbermann.
It’s not just an honor to do so, but a reciprocal duty.
I end this review with a deep bow of respect.
Watched the entire show. It was great. Liked what Michael Moore had to say about Obama and Libya.
BIL, SM, John K Wilson, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!, I don’t get that channel but will head over to HULU and try to subscribe to it via the iTunes store. Thanks for the info.
Keith,
Kudos on a great debut!
p.s. As you are probably a regular reader of this blog (and why shouldn’t you be) you recognize that was sincere high praise from our Buddha Is Laughing. Congratulations!
BIL, well said; as always!
Yeah, I understand that MSNBC was in the tank until KO took off, but the number of TV sets that could watch MSNBC was still much greater than those that get Current. It will be hard to repeat the success on a dixie cup station that he had on a big megaphone.
I will note that Kos comment about Joe Scuzzborough having veto power over the guest might have explained a lot. KO should have Joe on & ask him what he knows about the dead intern they found in Joe’s office in FL.
A poster “Rawstorysuspect” posted this on Raw Story and I’m watching a replay now,
“For those that don’t have Current TV, there is a stream here: http://ready-tv.com/?p=109
Current will be re-airing Countdown 10PM, 1AM, 3AM, 6AM, 9AM, 11AM, 2PM, and 5PM most days.
New shows are at 7PM. All times listed here are Central, I believe.”
The premier show is excellent.
I have Keith streaming on my desktop right ow- the site I posted the address to is excellent: several channels, 24 hour streaming, just go to the actual media site and check their schedule for shows and times. I don’t get BBC news either so this site is great for me.
KO,
Another great show. I’d also like to thank for bringing me the news about Vitter’s attempted bribery of Secretary of the Interior Salazar – a topic which the local Louisiana news in Vitter’s district was curiously silent today.
Professor,
I know this is not the best place to suggest a thread lead, but a story about Vitter’s letter to Salazar would be great. Also, I noticed on the bumper for Countdown, your name made the “collage of experts” that will be regularly appearing on Countdown. Most excellent. Not that I’m biased or anything.
JT – Some advice for KO when you meet next: to effectively reach his demographic the full show simply must be available online, preferably through iTunes or Hulu. At the moment only tiny clips are available.
For better or worse, fewer and fewer actually watch these shows when they’re aired on TV, and it’s a large and potentially fatal shortcoming if that’s the only way the show can reach it’s target audience. MSNBC was one of the first to get this right. KO needs to do the same – even for limited revenue – before the relaunch momentum is lost and he has a chance to reestablish his audience.
Puzzling, It streams here: http://ready-tv.com/?p=109 The full eps real-time. WhooHoo!
Go to the current tv website, look at the schedule- KO replays about 7 times in 24 hours. Then go to the above link and stream it. The sound sucks on occasion and the vid also freezes on occasion but the vid and freezing might be my computer- I put so much protection on my system it slows me down considerably when doing many Internet functions.
Professor, caught you tonight on Olbermann and you were as always, enlightening and entertaining. You been losing weight?