The NY Times reports ESPN is expected to announce 7/17 that Keith Olbermann, who contentiously departed in 1997, will return to host a one-hour, nightly show for ESPN2 later this year. Olbermann co-anchored ESPN’s “SportsCenter” with Dan Patrick and left the show briefly to help launch ESPN2 in October 1993.
Within ESPN, there was concern about asking Olbermann back because he left the network under emotionally charged circumstances in 1996 and because it was feared by some that Olbermann had become too politicized as the host of MSNBC’s “Countdown,” which aired from 2003 through January 2011.
On his new show, Olbermann will be free to discuss matters other than sports, including pop culture and current events, but not politics, the two-year pact specifies.
The move to bring Olbermann back after a 16-year absence was the result of 14 months of intense discussion within ESPN and its parent Disney, said the story.
ESPN executives said Olbermann will help it face the challenge presented by the launch of Fox Sports 1, that just announced plans for a potentially similar series to star Regis Philbin.
See the NY Times story here.
ESPN conditions are as follows:
1) Any comments towards politics are forbidden, because your political views are that of someone who should be institutionalized.
2) You are to wear a diaper because of your past history of getting overly excited about issues and having the interns who work for you clean up your mess.
3) No prostitutes allowed in your office.
4) No references to Billy O’Reily or his loofa. He beat you horribly in the ratings and you just need to let it go.
5) No ironic phrases in order to make yourself look smarter than everyone else.
Good liberals are typically offered multiple “second chances” due to their service to the cause. Katie Couric, another good liberal, was paid millions to fail again on her new show. Olbermann, now irrelevant, will fail miserably for many reasons…he’s wrong for the demographic for one thing. He’s highly overrated for another…
The heads of these networks, also rampant left wingers, mistakenly believe that these people will be embraced by the masses. The “masses” in flyover country simply are not attracted to this type of left winger….
Oh well, it will be good fun watching this blowhard fool fail again…because eventually, even the Couric’s run out of real estate…and this should be Olbermann’s last stand.
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