February 16, 2007
by Mike Anderson and sources

     MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has re-signed for millions of dollars, but not viewers. But he does have a few hundred thousand of them, and that number has been growing steadily, spreading much joy at NBC. Look at the graphic below, borrowed from MediaBistro, showing Neilsen numbers from yesterday:

The 8PM (EST) numbers rank FNC's O'Reilly solidly first, HLN's Nancy Grace way back in second and then MSNBC's Countdown at a distant third, but still with a two-to-one lead over CNN's Paula Zahn, who will probably be traded to Lifetime, for a sob-sister to be named later.

Countdown's numbers have been growing steadily and most media reviewers say that that growth is directly attributable to Keith Olbermann's nightly Commentary, during which he runs rough-shod over Righties of all stripes, often naming them as one of the Worst Persons in the World.

So for this nightly petulance and resulting ratings romp, Keith wanted four million bucks a year over the four-year term of his newly signed contract.

Did he get it? Broadcast & Cable: "Olbermann declined to comment on whether he had been seeking such a big pay jump or on what he eventually got except to say that the deal was 'an absolutely satisfactory agreement in all regards.'

Olbermann will now also be doing occasional "essays" (not commentaries) on the NBC Nightly News.

And I say good for him! Good, in fact, for anyone, on the Right or Left side of The Aisle, representing either the Red or Blue constituency, who can con any media empire into paying outrageous money for a few emotionally charged words.

And God knows there are plenty of them that have.

An aside: My cable company does not carry MSNBC, so I've never seen Olbermann's work, except on occasional excerpted videos linked around the Web. I do remember seeing him on ESPN and I found him then to be a thoroughly disagreeable person. The excerpts I've seen since then have not changed my mind about him.

If you're a parent, you know the feeling that zips right down to your soul when your three-year-old, little Timmy, smiles up at you while you're eating dinner, looks you right in the eye and says one of the magic words you used out loud while you were trying a four-in-hand with a new tie that morning.

"F**K!" little Timmy says loudly and giggles while you blanche.

You know that he learned it from you and that he would never have said it unless you did. But while you and the Missus initially laugh at the cute, then choke at the result, you also know that this is what they call unacceptable behavior and you have to make every effort to keep it from ever happening again.

But it's so cute, you think, to hear little Timmy say the "F" word...right up until little Timmy says it in church or on a broadcast network news show.

This is what Olbermann (and "shock-talkers" on both political sides of the radio and tv dials) depend on...that you'll think their calumny or insult is funny and not socially unacceptable. It's their stock in trade, after all.

Or have we moved on so far from common decency that this is now acceptable behavior?

God, I hope not.

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