What's even funnier is who his replacement is................
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Current TV fires Keith Olbermann By Lucas Shaw, TheWrap.com
Donna Ward / Getty Images file
Current TV has fired Keith Olbermann, a network spokeswoman told TheWrap.
The controversial news host has been at the fledgling cable channel for less than a year.
Eliot Spitzer will replace Olbermann starting Friday night, the network announced.
More from TheWrap.com: Rift between Olbermann, Current deepens
Olberman got into a contretemps with the network over his role during Republican primary election coverage last December. But the host has a history of butting heads with management and other bosses, starting with ESPN, including MSNBC and now with the leadership at Current. Advertise | AdChoices
In its move on Friday, Current was clearly fed up with its star newsman.
"Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it," the network wrote in a letter to viewers published on its website.
Back in early January, executives at Current TV said that relations – especially those with Current CEO Joel Hyatt – were at a breaking point after deteriorating over several months.
More from TheWrap.com: SAG and AFTRA merger overwhelming approved by membership
Olbermann declined to cover the Iowa caucus when he learned he would have to share the hosting chair with others.
Here is the full memo from the Current website:
To the Viewers of Current:
We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.
Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.
We are moving ahead by honoring Current's values. Current has a fundamental obligation to deliver news programming with a progressive perspective that our viewers can count on being available daily -- especially now, during the presidential election campaign. Current exists because our audience desires the kind of perspective, insight and commentary that is not easily found elsewhere in this time of big media consolidation.
As we move toward this summer's political conventions and the general election in the fall, Current is making significant new additions to our broadcasts. We have just debuted six hours of new programming each weekday with Bill Press ("Full Court Press, at 6 am ET/3 am PT) and Stephanie Miller ("Talking Liberally," at 9 am ET/6 pm PT).
We’re very excited to announce that beginning tonight, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer will host “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer,” at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Eliot is a veteran public servant and an astute observer of the issues of the day. He has important opinions and insights and he relishes the kind of constructive discourse that our viewers will appreciate this election year.
We are confident that our viewers will be able to count on Governor Spitzer to deliver critical information on a daily basis.
All of these additions to Current's lineup are aimed at achieving one simple goal -- thegoal that has always been central to Current's mission: To tell stories no one else will tell, to speak truth to power, and to influence the conversation of democracy on behalf of those whose voice is too seldom heard. We, and everyone at Current, want to thank our viewers for their continued steadfast support. Advertise | AdChoices
Doesn't Spitzer have his own show already or did that get cancelled as well
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
Doesn't Spitzer have his own show already or did that get cancelled as well
After he got booted from CNN I lost track.................in the world of opinion based talk tv he may have been one of the worst hosts ever, although Al (tawana brawley) Sharpton may have to get the nod for first place............
Keith Olbermann Fired By Current TV; Replaced By Eliot Spitzer The Huffington Post | By Jack Mirkinson Posted: 03/30/2012 4:45 pm Updated: 03/30/2012 10:47 pm
Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current TV, the network announced Friday. He will be replaced by former New York governor and CNN host Eliot Spitzer.
Olbermann had hosted "Countdown," which he brought from MSNBC after his exit there, since June. His short tenure began with fanfare, but ended, as many of Olbermann's previous jobs have, with deep acrimony on both sides.
Spitzer, who had his own short-lived stint as the host of "Parker Spitzer" (later called "In The Arena") on CNN, began hosting his show, "Viewpoints," immediately on Friday night. He made no mention of Olbermann or his somewhat unusual arrival to the post at the top of the show.
The news of Olbermann's termination was first reported by the New York Times' Brian Stelter.
A source told Politico that Olbermann was fired for breach of contract, saying that he had "sabotaged" the network. Howard Kurtz reported that Olbermann had begun refusing to toss to other peoples' shows or appear in advertisements with them.
Another source told the New York Observer that Spitzer had been in talks with Current for months.
The channel released a statement signed by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the founders of the network, on Friday. The statement made plain that Current's relationship with Olbermann had devolved to an unsustainable point:
To the Viewers of Current: We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before. Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.
The statement also called Spitzer "an astute observer of the issues of the day."
Olbermann also released a statement in 140-character chunks on Twitter, saying that he would be taking legal action:
I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract. It goes almost without saying that the claims against me in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt’s “values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,” I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee’s name was Clarence B. Cain. In due course, the truth of the ethics of Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt will come out. For now, it is important only to again acknowledge that joining them was a sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one. That lack of judgment is mine and mine alone, and I apologize again for it.
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