Keith Olbermann will return to cable television this spring as host of a new primetime news and commentary show on Current TV.
"Nothing is more vital to a free America than a free media," Olbermann told reporters Tuesday. "And nothing is more vital to my concept of a free media than news that is produced independent of corporate interference."
Olbermann, who abruptly left MSNBC last month following high-profile battles with the network brass, will also take on a management role at Current, the public affairs network founded in 2005 by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. The veteran broadcaster will be be chief news officer, a role that allows Olbermann to help shape the network's editorial programming.
Hiring Olbermann is a bold move for Current, which has struggled with its identity since launching as a mix of in-house programming and "pods"—short, viewer-generated videos. The network dropped the "pods" concept in 2009 amid other staff changes. (Current also partnered briefly with Yahoo! a few years back).
Now with Olbermann at the network—which also cut him in on some equity in the business—Current will boast one of the most recognizable liberal voices in media five nights a week.
Olbermann called the move to Current his "most exciting venture" in a decades-long television career that's included stops at CNN, ESPN, Fox Sports, and MSNBC (twice!). He described Current as "one of the fastest-growing television networks in history."
Current is available in 60 million households. Gore, on the conference call, suggested that Current has a larger potential audience than MSNBC had when Olbermann launched "Countdown" in 2003. (MSNBC, however, was available in over 78 million homes then and 95 million now). Current is also available in 15 million households outside the United States.
"We now live in a world with fewer and fewer opportunities to hear truly unique, truly unfettered voices on television," Gore said during the conference call, noting that Olbermann's voice is truly "unique."
Olbermann didn't hold back his political views on "Countdown," but he got into trouble in November after donating to three Democratic candidates in without alerting MSNBC's management. Those contributions led to a brief, November suspension that set the stage for his departure a couple months later.
Gore said that Olbermann, along with other Current employees, is free to contribute to political campaigns as long as the donations are disclosed.
Olbermann hits the air this spring, but Current didn't announce what time his show will air each night.
*Olberman a force to be reckoned with*
By: Diva's House
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