Keith Olbermann: Countdown on Current TV
Broadcaster and commentator Keith Olbermann spoke with Premier Guide Miami about launching Countdown on Current TV — his unfiltered progressive perspective, why no one is exempt from criticism, his chilled distance from MSNBC colleagues since leaving, and what it means to run a news operation with no audience targets and no partisan constraints.
From the Vault · 2011
This is an archival piece from the Premier Guide Miami collection. The coverage, context, and details reflect the time it was originally published.
Keith Olbermann said it plainly: "There is nothing on my shoulder other than getting the best news, information and commentary show on the air every day. …" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.
Keith Olbermann is a broadcaster, writer, and commentator best known for his long run at MSNBC. He joined Current TV as host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Chief News Officer of the network, bringing his signature progressive commentary to a new platform with fewer constraints than traditional cable news.
PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Will the show reflect your own views and beliefs?
KEITH OLBERMANN: We're not going to try and sell anyone on the notion that this will be a popular program with conservatives. I don't particularly care if it isn't — I don't think they are right about things. That's my point of view, and that's the point of view we're going to operate from. I will not carry water for anybody, and no one is necessarily exempt from criticism on this show.
PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What do you think of the Lawrence O'Donnell Show?
KEITH OLBERMANN: I haven't seen Lawrence's show. I have not watched MSNBC for more than five minutes since I left. It's not that I don't care. I get my news from a thousand sources online and a little radio and a very little TV. It's not cable news.
PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Current TV is a relatively new network — what is your target audience?
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KEITH OLBERMANN: We're in this for the long haul with no set audience targets. This is a progressive television news operation. The sort of stuff we've been doing — everybody is fair game. There are certain limitations in both directions that partisan media in the old television format require and create, and we're not bound by those. We're not going to fit any stereotypes, we're going to surprise people on the content. It would be nice to think about a television show being an incubator for other television shows, but that's one of those things you cannot force. This is not 'All in the Family' spinning off 'Maude' and 'The Jeffersons.'
PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Will Bill O'Reilly be a major target for you?
KEITH OLBERMANN: Bill O'Reilly has lost a little on his fastball.
PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: You were close with Rachel Maddow before you left MSNBC. How is your relationship with her now?
KEITH OLBERMANN: We had a very brotherly/sisterly relationship. I was normally in her office or she in mine, four out of five days, just to throw the crap around. Several times I talked her out of storming out of the place, and several times she talked me out of storming out. But since I left, I've kept my distance from all my friends I couldn't bring with me. I hope I'm employing all of them someday, but at the moment there is a somewhat chilled view of me at NBC. I don't think they expected this would be the outcome. They expected: 'OK, he's going to go away now, probably for so long that nobody will be interested in bringing him back.'
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