Olbermann-MSNBC relationship was failing

Keith Olbermann's exit from MSNBC appeared abrupt to his viewers, but the talk-show host and his network were involved "in a relationship that's been failing for a long time," an NBC Universal executive said yesterday, according to The Associated Press.

Olbermann's announcement at the end of Friday's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" that it was his last show quiets the most dominant liberal voice in a cable-television world where opinionated talk has been the most bankable trend.

Neither MSNBC nor Olbermann have yet indicated why they ended their contract, nor whether he quit or was fired. The NBC Universal executive characterized it as a mutual parting, with Olbermann taking the first step. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because settlement talks were kept confidential.

Olbermann and his manager didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

After Olbermann's two-day suspension from the network in November - for violating an NBC News policy by donating to three Democrats' campaigns, including that of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords - he apologized to his fans but not the network.

Last fall, Olbermann, a former ESPN anchor, saw his role on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" eliminated.

He had willingly worked six days a week to be involved with the highly rated telecast. NBC said it removed him so he could concentrate on his MSNBC job.

After Giffords was shot on Jan. 8, Olbermann came into the studio and took to the air on his day off with an emotional editorial saying politicians and talk-show personalities - including himself - need to swear off any kind of violent imagery so as not to incite anybody into acts like the Giffords shooting.

Olbermann's peripatetic career landed him at MSNBC eight years ago - his second prime-time stint on the network - with a humorous show counting down the day's top stories.

That changed on Aug. 30, 2006, when he aired the first of a series of densely worded and blistering "special comments," expressing anger at then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's criticism of opponents to the war in Iraq.

More anti-Bush administration commentary followed and Olbermann became a hero to liberals battered by conservative commentators.

"Countdown" became MSNBC's most popular show.

What's next for Olbermann is unclear. His contract has about two years left and may bar him from TV for a while.

MSNBC is moving Lawrence O'Donnell to 8 p.m. and Ed Schultz's show into O'Donnell's 10 p.m. slot.