Keith Olbermann is out at MSNBC

Keith Olbermann, the most successful host in MSNBC history, was abruptly dropped by the network Friday, just as Comcast effectively took possession of parent company NBC.

In a brief statement, the network said, "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

At the end of his telecast last night, Olbermann said, in part:

"I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my business who has been told what I've been told: That this is going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the scene from 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the raincoat, and you go off on an existential otherworldly journey of unutterable profundity and vision. You dam the impediments and insist on the insurrections and then you admit, Peter Finch's gutteral resonant, 'so..'. And you implore, will the viewer go to the window, open it, and stick out his head and yell...? Well you know the rest."

Calls to MSNBC were not returned, but Olbermann's end at a network he's called home - on and off for the past decade - is not a total surprise. He was suspended by the network in November for making contributions to political candidates - a suspension he predictably lashed out at - but was reinstated after a few days.At the time, MSNBC president Phil Griffin, said, "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."

Olbermann's firing comes just as Comcast's purchase of NBC - which passed through a gauntlet of government scrutiny - was consecrated just this week. MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said the deal had nothing to do with the decision, according to The Associated Press.

Olbermann has for years had tempestuous relationships with management, viewers, colleagues, and owners. He was fired by ESPN for disparaging the hometown of the network.

His program, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," was launched in 2003 on MSNBC and became in time the struggling network's top-rated program. He feuded with Bill O'Reilly on Fox, labeled certain individuals (O'Reilly included) "the worst people of the week;" and gained fans and enemies. He leaned sharply left when other pundits leaned right, and was an aggressively vocal critic of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.