Keith Olbermann To Current TV: Hosting New Show, Becoming Chief News Officer

Keith Olbermann announced on Tuesday that he will host a one-hour, nightly primetime show on Current TV starting in late spring. He will also become the "chief news officer" for Current. Olbermann had been without a television home since he abruptly left MSNBC, where he had hosted "Countdown" for eight years, in January.

For Olbermann, his move to Current gives him a chance to wield large influence over a a relatively tiny network. Current averages about 23,000 viewers in primetime every night--a far cry from the million or so viewers who watched "Countdown."

In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday morning, Olbermann said that "nothing is more vital to a free America than a free media, and nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news that is produced independently of corporate interference." He called Current "the model truth seeking entity" in television, and said that his new show was "the most exciting event in my career."

Olbermann said the show "will be for all intents and purposes an improved and we hope amplified and stronger version of the show that I just did at my previous network." He could not, however, provide details of the name and time of the show, saying only, "stay tuned."

Al Gore, the chairman of Current TV, also spoke on the conference call. He said he was "extremely honored and delighted" that Olbermann was coming to Current. He said Olbermann was a "great fit with Current in every way."

Olbermann will also be the executive producer of the new show. In the conference call, he called Current the only "independent news and information" channel in the United States. He said he was looking forward to working somewhere where "purely market forces are not the deciding factor in what we're doing here."

A reporter asked if Olbermann would be able to donate to political candidates in his new position-- a reference to the suspension Olbermann received at MSNBC for his donations to three Democrats.

"The answer is yes," Gore said. "We believe at Current that every citizen has freedom of speech, and that freedom of speech includes the ability to donate to candidates of your choice." He added that "full disclosure of that is
important."

As Chief News Officer, Current CEO Mark Rosenthal said, Olbermann will be intimately involved with all of the channel's news and informational programming.

Current has already launched a website for Olbermann's upcoming show. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like now:

Comments

[Barry Risper]

07:43 PM on 04/07/2011

I can't wait...K.O. is really going to get under the skin of conservatives. And mark my words, if he does what I think he'll do, you may see the likes of Maher, Colbert and Stewart move to that network

[Joe Friday]

02:52 PM on 03/24/2011

This story is still up!!!! Why??? Is the strike working?

[VTya]

01:35 PM on 03/24/2011

Link TV ia also free of corporate censorship ... Looking forward to seeing Keith in the driver's seat again.

[Nerf Hoeffelmeyer]

11:56 AM on 03/24/2011

maybe K.O. can double Current TV's rating in a year

[SPacific]

11:45 AM on 03/24/2011

With the advent of Current TV, and KO as their Chief News Officer, so opens the progressive response to Murdoch's ultra-conservative network at Fox...................

[dbrockx]

12:12 PM on 03/22/2011

Yes, we need someone to call it like it is. Missed Keith, look forward to hearing him rip the GOP a new one. I must say Rachel has been doing a tremendous job at MSNBC. Don't really care for the rest of them. Chris spits to much. Lawrence is to stuffy and Ed doesn't let you get a word in. I can say that rachel has been exposing a lot of the crap the republicans are doing/ Just wished more of country on the regular channels can start reporting some real news instead of wasting their time on Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan

[57basque]

04:27 PM on 03/08/2011

Oh does this sound like its gonna be a show which will expose all of the trash going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spJCUM5EzE8

Lets all just take the day off and have some fun...until we fix this Broken Promised Land.

[Sheila Whitehead]

10:10 PM on 02/27/2011

Yep

[whatchamean]

09:32 PM on 02/22/2011

Keith, I miss you on MSNBC. It is just another network now. You had that X factor.

[RTIII]

03:53 PM on 02/19/2011

WONDERFUL news. ...Hope I can get Current TV online!...

[Malik Skyy]

10:08 PM on 02/14/2011

http://youtu.be/-HWZ6CgFixc

[mewitt]

10:34 AM on 02/14/2011

All I can say is Keith appeals to the younger people, his rating on tv might be low because we all watch him on a thing call the internet. We young whippersnappers know how to use that stuff. We all set around and make fun of you old people at those tea party events and laugh. We would no more listen to Bill O'reilly and any old person on fox news or at a tea party event then we would our grandpa's! look around see any young people? we are all at the coffee bars watching Keith on that fancy portable tv! The only thing I can say is please greatest generation hurry up and die, we are tired of you. So you laugh at Keith we laugh at you! You guys are dinosaur's, we are gonna put you in old folks homes so you can set around with your hands in your pants and complain. What a joke! You guys are old and outdated! The reason you do not hear more from us is because your to old for us to talk to! We prefer cool guys like Keith! Go home and watch fox news, they are going to show you how to use polydent! What a bunch of grannies!

[tenilla]

08:12 PM on 02/14/2011

First, thanks for supporting Olbermann.

Second, I am a grandmother who has boycotted MSNBC since January 24, 2010. The
only time I ever watched Fox "News" was when Cheney would only give an interview
about shooting his friend in the face to Britt Hume. I have never listened to even a minute
of Rush Limbaugh's radio show.

Jeez! Palin and Bachmann and Sharron Angle are setting the women's movement back
by decades, if not centuries, and now all of us older people are associated with Fox
and the baggers.

But I forgive you. Keep supporting Olbermann, one of our last good guys.

[Matoka]

08:00 AM on 02/27/2011

I too am a "seasoned" citizen..... and will fan you for your comment!

[dahlia97]

09:47 PM on 02/22/2011

This post is so funny. How 'old' do you think Keith is? He was born in 1959....I'm really laughing here. Are your comments for real?

Hope I get to see Keith's new show on the internet.

Again I ask, is this for real? A young person calling him/herself a 'whippersnapper?' You sound like grandpa to me.

[Warren Lauzon]

08:20 AM on 02/14/2011

I have not watched Current TV since they dropped the Rotten Tomatoes show, and this is not much of an incentive to start again.

[farmilyman]

11:44 PM on 02/13/2011

Can't wait to see Keith unmuzzeled by corporate elitists.

[sanang]

09:28 PM on 02/13/2011

WELL, I am not able to get Current t.v. on my Suddenlink lineup, darn it!! So don't guess I'll be watching my favorite guy!

[gustafson]

11:46 PM on 02/13/2011

should be able to watch on the internet