Keith Olbermann

During a TV interview, Keith Jackson, the leviathan tight end of the Philadelphia Eagles, elected to hold the earpiece used to hear his questioner by pressing his enormous fingers against his ear.

Former Times Television Critic Howard Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism in 1985, will be writing occasional commentaries about news on television and the Internet. -- It seems like a couple of centuries since His Holiness Pope Walter reigned as God's deputy on the airwaves. Even longer if you think about leave-'em-laughing funnyman Keith Olbermann.

THE Democrats may have wrested back control of power in Congress, but that hasn't quieted the ire of Keith Olbermann. Last week, he delivered one of his trademark blistering critiques of the country's leadership -- this time charging that President Bush failed to learn the lessons of Vietnam by perpetuating the "monumental lie that is our presence in Iraq." And don't think the victors of the midterm election are going to escape his sharp tongue.

Keith Olbermann is at odds with management. So what else is new? If everything were hunky-dory between Olbermann and ESPN after five years together, that would be news. "Keith isn't happy unless he's miserable," said Craig Kilborn, his friend and former colleague now at Comedy Central. Olbermann is bright and talented, no question about that. He is also different and difficult. Olbermann likes offbeat stories and leads an offbeat life.

CNN was poised Friday to set a standard it would have preferred avoiding: When the March ratings period ends, CNN is likely to finish third in prime time for the first time since it pioneered the cable news genre three decades ago. Fox News Channel was way out in front. But now MSNBC's opinionated lineup of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow is slipping past CNN into second. CNN said its overall business is healthy and that the Nielsen Media Research ratings will not lead it astray from its straight news path.

MSNBC is adding another liberal voice to a lineup that already includes Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Ed Schultz, a longtime syndicated radio talk-show host, will launch "The Ed Show" on Monday, airing weekdays at 3 p.m. The program will replace "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," which had been home to David Gregory during the presidential campaign last year before he was named to replace the late Tim Russert as host of NBC's "Meet the Press."...

The Television Critics Assn. Press Tour, the semi-annual gathering of television journalists from around the country, began at the Beverly Hilton on July 8. This is our final dispatch. -- NBC News President Steve Capus today defended the dual roles that MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews play on the cable news network, arguing that the ratings prove viewers are comfortable watching them pivot between commentary and news anchoring. "The audience gets it, and that's the single biggest factor that I see," Capus said.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has agreed to stay at the cable news network for four more years in a deal that gives him a broader role at NBC News, network executives said Thursday. The outspoken former sportscaster, whose nightly news program "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" has helped buoy the ratings of the third-place cable news channel, will now also contribute essays to "NBC Nightly News" and host two prime-time specials annually on the broadcast network.

SO MSNBC is mired in third place among all-news cable networks ["A New Look for Its News at MSNBC," by Scott Collins, June 12]. Gee, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that four of their five evening programs are hosted by conservatives (Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews, Rita Cosby). Competing with Fox News for right-wing viewers is a fool's errand. Since many people believe the media are liberal anyway, why doesn't MSNBC simply go ahead and try a mostly liberal lineup?

As of Wednesday, fans of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann had pledged $43,251.67 to a grass-roots "Save the Tapes" campaign to preserve any alleged audio evidence of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly talking lewdly to Fox News producer Andrea Mackris. Despite the lack of evidence that such tapes actually exist, hundreds of viewers and website readers have offered to donate anywhere from 2 cents to $1,000, Olbermann said.

MSNBC is adding another liberal voice to a lineup that already includes Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Ed Schultz, a longtime syndicated radio talk-show host, will launch "The Ed Show" on Monday, airing weekdays at 3 p.m. The program will replace "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," which had been home to David Gregory during the presidential campaign last year before he was named to replace the late Tim Russert as host of NBC's "Meet the Press."...

CNN was poised Friday to set a standard it would have preferred avoiding: When the March ratings period ends, CNN is likely to finish third in prime time for the first time since it pioneered the cable news genre three decades ago. Fox News Channel was way out in front. But now MSNBC's opinionated lineup of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow is slipping past CNN into second. CNN said its overall business is healthy and that the Nielsen Media Research ratings will not lead it astray from its straight news path.

MSNBC has locked up host Keith Olbermann for four more years, the network said Monday. "Keith Olbermann is at the core of MSNBC's current success," said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. In the last two years, Olbermann's 5 p.m. show "Countdown" has helped propel the cable news network to new ratings heights. The outspoken host has used his program to lambaste the Bush administration, attracting attention and controversy. Under his new contract, Olbermann will continue hosting "Countdown" and will play a prominent role in MSNBC's coverage of major news events.

NEW YORK -- MSNBC President Phil Griffin on Monday defended the dual roles played by hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews during this year's presidential campaign, even though they will no longer anchor political news coverage. David Gregory, NBC's chief White House correspondent and an MSNBC anchor, will replace the voluble hosts, who have come to represent the channel's embrace of opinion-laced coverage, a tactic that has drawn sharp criticism even as it has helped swell the audience.

The Television Critics Assn. Press Tour, the semi-annual gathering of television journalists from around the country, began at the Beverly Hilton on July 8. This is our final dispatch. -- NBC News President Steve Capus today defended the dual roles that MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews play on the cable news network, arguing that the ratings prove viewers are comfortable watching them pivot between commentary and news anchoring. "The audience gets it, and that's the single biggest factor that I see," Capus said.

Former Times Television Critic Howard Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize winner for criticism in 1985, will be writing occasional commentaries about news on television and the Internet. -- It seems like a couple of centuries since His Holiness Pope Walter reigned as God's deputy on the airwaves. Even longer if you think about leave-'em-laughing funnyman Keith Olbermann.

NBC is giving outspoken cable host Keith Olbermann a chance to woo new viewers when the network broadcasts a special edition of his MSNBC show "Countdown" on March 30. The NBC special, coming on the eve of "Countdown's" fifth anniversary, speaks to the influence Olbermann has had at MSNBC, where his piercing denunciations of the Bush administration have gained him a strong following and helped lift the ratings of the third-place cable news network....

I remain unpersuaded that Keith Olbermann represents a positive trend in TV news reporting ["Olbermann Keeps News in Order," by Paul Brownfield, Aug. 7]. While Olbermann doesn't disguise his liberal viewpoint in his editorials and Top 3s, his method of confirming his preexisting views with his "salon" of like-minded Beltway observers is bias masquerading as journalism. "The Daily Show" is obviously ironic and humorous.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has agreed to stay at the cable news network for four more years in a deal that gives him a broader role at NBC News, network executives said Thursday. The outspoken former sportscaster, whose nightly news program "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" has helped buoy the ratings of the third-place cable news channel, will now also contribute essays to "NBC Nightly News" and host two prime-time specials annually on the broadcast network.

THE Democrats may have wrested back control of power in Congress, but that hasn't quieted the ire of Keith Olbermann. Last week, he delivered one of his trademark blistering critiques of the country's leadership -- this time charging that President Bush failed to learn the lessons of Vietnam by perpetuating the "monumental lie that is our presence in Iraq." And don't think the victors of the midterm election are going to escape his sharp tongue.