Handicapping What Comes Next for Keith Olbermann

[RamboLiberal]

1. A big, fat lawsuit. If Olbermann can show that higher-ups at NBC News singled him out for punishment while letting Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan skate, he could build a strong case against them, with damages predicated not just on the withholding of his $7 million salary but also on the harm done to his reputation. Of course, that’s a substantial “if”: An MSNBC spokesman says Scarborough’s donations were cleared ahead of time with MSNBC management, making them consistent with network policy, while Buchanan, as a contributor rather than a full-time employee, isn’t subject to the same rules. But who knows? Maybe Olbermann goes all Dan Rather and try to show that NBC executives sold him out to gain favor in Washington for the Comcast merger.

2. A new show at CNN. It would be a touch awkward for CNN to hire the inflexibly partisan Olbermann after years of banging the drum on its commitment to down-the-middle, fact-driven news. But they already tried to do it once. Foster Kamer notes that CNN might have an opening soon at 8 p.m., where Olbermann could replace “the dead-in-the-water ‘Parker Spitzer.’” And if putting him on CNN proved too big a climbdown for new president Ken Jautz, he could always find a home for him at HLN, which is more personality-driven and these days often does as well as or better than its sister network in the ratings.

3. Joining forces with Arianna. The Huffington Post has been hiring big names from the world of mainstream media lately, Olbermann is a hero to the liberal-leaning site’s core audience. He’s probably too pricey for a site that only just started making money, but if they really wanted to do a deal, they could probably finesse it by giving him a big chunk of equity or forming a new joint venture. Hungry for original video, Huffpo might be willing to grant some pretty favorable terms.

http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffbercovici/2010/11/05/handicapping-what-comes-next-for-keith-olbermann/

[monmouth]

1. New Press Secretary to replace Gibbs....n/t

[golddigger]

4. Hell yes. Just what Obama needs.

[virgogal]

2. Is Parker Spitzer a person,place,or thing?

[RamboLiberal]

3. Two people - Eliot Spitzer / Kathleen Parker

[virgogal]

5. Thanks !

[DAMANgoldberg]

6. If he goes back to CNN...

I can see this happening.

Parker|Spitzer moves to 7P, John King moves to 6P, the Situation Room becomes 4-6P, and Newsroom (currently hosted by Brooke Baldwin) becomes 3-4P. Olbermann goes on at 8P and CNN gets their best ratings there since Paula Zahn. Now Olbermann still has 2 years and $15M left on his deal, which may put him out of reach financially, given that Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan got large deals, and Parker|Spitzer gets $1M.

It makes broadcasting sense for KO to end up at CNN, but not financial.

David Schuster could get a show on HLN at 10P (currently Nancy Grace repeat), Parker|Spitzer could move to that network, or David could get his show @ 3P (Rick's List spot). He wouldn't cost more than $1M.