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MSNBC TO REPLACE SUSPENDED KEITH OLBERMANN WITH PHOTOS OF EMPLOYEE’S FAMILIES
November 5 2010
New York, NY – In recent years much has been made of the continuing ratings battles between the major all-news networks with all three claiming victory and all three upping the rhetoric in order to gain audience share. Much of that spotlight has
of course been focussed on the old stalwart, CNN, and the young upstart, Fox News, but in the middle of that battle, there has been one forgotten contender, a contender that has been quietly digging out a niche market of its own and had middling success.
Older than Fox News by only months, MSNBC has not been able to gain nearly as much ground as her peer despite offering an exact political counterpoint but has nonetheless been able to garner a dedicated audience. Lacking the name brand of CNN and the personalities of Fox, MSNBC has always been a step behind its competitors and now with the suspension of the one major face on the network, Keith Olbermann, some pundits are concerned that the network will fall even further behind. MSNBC executives however are not as concerned, stating that they will run compilations of photos submitted by staff members of their families and friends, set to soft yet playful music.
“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. Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest,” said Senior Vice President Phil Griffin. “For the immediate future Mr. Olbermann’s place will be taken by Christopher Hayes. Next week we will fulfill all previously scheduled interviews but will begin broadcasting slideshows of members of the NBC family. We will assess Mr. Olbermann at a future date but for now we will turn the spotlight to our extended family.”
Olbermann apparently made campaign contributions to three Democratic candidates in October, a violation of company policies.
“This is an interesting move, a bold one really that I doubt many people feel will pay off. Obviously if he violated company policy then he needs to be disciplined but this falls into other realms, namely journalistic ethics. For a network that is so unabashedly political it seems strange that they would have prohibitions on such actions, but then this is real world action not simply something for advertisers and that may be the difference,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “I don’t think anyone that has ever watched Olbermann has doubted for a second that he genuinely believes in the liberal identity so his real world support can’t be a surprise. The bigger question is whether or not this will hurt MSNBC and that is going to be a real test for the network and her advertisers.”
‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ is the highest rated show on the network.
“People like slideshows. Left wing, right wing, right down the middle, they all love
slideshows especially when they involve children doing funn things like dressing up for Halloween. I’m sure there will be a great deal of short term interest in such a show but over the long haul it will be a tough sell, though it probably costs a lot less,” continued Piper. “Eventually though they will run out of pictures, depending on how long the suspension goes for. I suppose they could start soliciting pictures from viewers which would engage people and keep them interested. Barring that they could just go to one of those old screen savers with the ball bouncing around the screen. That would keep people interested for hours.”
CNN briefly experimented with a log fire instead of traditional programming in 2007. Executives blamed the warmth of July for the failure of that programming to take off.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
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