Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Title card used in videos on Current.com
Presented by	Keith Olbermann
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	1,400+ [1]
Production
Production locations	Secaucus, New Jersey (April 3, 2003 – October 19, 2007) New York City (October 22, 2007 – January 21, 2011)
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	MSNBC (2003-2011) Current TV (2011-present)
Release	March 31, 2003 (2003-03-31) - January 21, 2011 (2011-01-21) (MSNBC) June 20, 2011 (2011-06-20) (Current TV)

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program^[2] which is scheduled to re-launch on Current TV on June 20, 2011.^[3] The program was formerly broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of the day, with commentary by Olbermann and interviews of guests. It has otherwise been described as "a smart, progressive refuge and a reliable rebuke to rival Fox News Channel pundits where Olbermann would chronicle the day's events, interview guests, deliver blistering commentaries in filigreed prose, needle hand-picked scoundrels (as in his Worst Persons fixture), and wrap the whole package with literate trappings and pop-culture wit (his readings from James Thurber short stories)."^[4]

At the start of Countdown, Olbermann told television columnist Lisa de Moraes:

"Our charge for the immediate future is to stay out of the way of the news.... News is the news. We will not be screwing around with it.... As times improve and the war [in Iraq] ends we will begin to introduce more and more elements familiar to my style."

The show is known for Olbermann's fast-paced, rhetorical style; historical and pop culture references; and liberal commentary. Olbermann melded news stories, both serious and light, with commentary, much of it critical of Republicans and conservative politics. The show has been the source of some controversy, due to these criticisms, as well as the host's ongoing criticism of Fox News Channel and his feud with Bill O'Reilly of Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, a show to which Countdown ran directly opposite.^[5]

Beginning on October 22, 2007, the show aired live from NBC Studios 1A's Second Floor at 30 Rockefeller Center, in New York City, and was published, shortly thereafter, each weeknight in audio and video form as a podcast^[6] (as well as in segment form, with shorter interstitial ads, on the show's web site).^[7]

During the January 21, 2011, edition of Countdown, Olbermann announced that it would be his last appearance on the show but gave no explanation as to why that was the case.^[8] The New York Times reported the following day that Olbermann had negotiated his exit from MSNBC, with a secret deal.^[9] After being hired by Current TV, Olbermann announced on April 26, 2011, that his nightly news program on the new network would begin June 20, 2011, and would also be called Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[10]

The show opened with a graphic showing a sequence of NBC logos through the years ending with the MSNBC logo; the accompanying music is the opening bars of the second movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which was used by NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report and NBC Nightly News in the 1960s and 1970s. Each item in the countdown is introduced by a 5-4-3-2-1 graphic accompanied by the Beethoven theme.

In late August 2006, Olbermann started delivering occasional "Special Comments" in which he has expressed sharp criticisms of members of the Bush administration, including then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush. As of November 10, 2008, Olbermann has delivered forty of these commentaries, as well as a series of about ten "Campaign Comments" during the final weeks of the 2008 presidential election. While the majority of these comments have been directed at members of the Republican Party, Olbermann also directed two Special Comments in the first half of 2008 at Senator Hillary Clinton, criticizing aspects of her campaign for the Democratic nomination. One of Olbermann's Special Comments also spoke out against the passage of Proposition 8 in California on November 4, 2008,^[11][12] for which he was awarded the 2009 GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Journalism Segment".^[13]

Olbermann's "Special Comments" have been both compared to and contrasted with Edward R. Murrow's signature essays.^[14][15][16]

At the end of the years 2006 and 2007, four of Olbermann's comments from the year were gathered as a special program during the Christmas and New Years holidays.

The "Worst Person in the World" segment was a nightly feature in which Olbermann recounted three news stories involving people saying or doing something that Olbermann found to be objectionable. "Nominees" for the dubious "Worst Person in the World" award were ranked at the "worse", "worser", and "worst" levels. While many of his targets were not political, the overwhelming majority were conservatives, former members of the George W. Bush administration, and later members of the Tea Party movement.^[17] The segment was introduced by Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.^[18] On a few occasions the segment was either briefly suspended or renamed in response to concerns that it contributed to an atmosphere of political divisiveness.^[19][20]

The most frequent recipient of the award was Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly, with whom Olbermann has a highly publicized feud. Olbermann repeatedly named O'Reilly his "Worst Person in the World" winner, and has awarded him a clean sweep of all three positions on two occasions.^[21] Olbermann also frequently targeted other Fox News personalities such as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, Chris Wallace, Newt Gingrich, and the co-hosts of Fox & Friends, as well as Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch and Fox News manager Roger Ailes. Other frequent recipients included talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, former CNN host Lou Dobbs, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and columnist Ann Coulter.

Based on this segment of the show, a book titled The Worst Person in the World was published in September 2006. It included transcripts of segments that aired from this feature's inception on July 1, 2005, through May 31, 2006, as well as some original material.^[22] Another such book, Pitchforks and Torches -- named after Olbermann's catchphrase in introducing the segment—was released in 2010.

During the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary season, Olbermann began using the term "Keith number" in reference to the sum of a pre-election opinion poll's margin of error and the percentage of respondents who are undecided. Olbermann believes this value tends to be predictive of the extent to which a poll may vary from actual election results, and also of the volatility of the electorate's leanings.^[23]

To summarize:

• The greater the poll's margin of error, the farther the results may be from the current views of the voters.
• The more undecided voters, the more likely voters are to change their views in the future.

On the January 11, 2008, episode of Countdown, Olbermann described the number as follows:

What, you ask, is the ‘Keith number‘? This is the margin of error plus the percentage of undecided — in this case, four-and-a-half margin of error plus five percent undecided. I thought of it, so I named it after myself. You think of a better caveat for polls from now on and we‘ll name it after you.^[24]

Olbermann's "Keith number" is unrelated (mathematically or otherwise) to the more traditional use of the term.

Former The Most host Alison Stewart was the primary guest host for Countdown until the end of 2007. During that period guest hosts included Alex Witt, David Shuster, Amy Robach, and Brian Unger. From April 2008 until September 2008 Rachel Maddow hosted Countdown in Olbermann's absence. This ended when she was given her own show, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.^[25] Subsequent guest hosts included Tamron Hall, Cenk Uygur (of The Young Turks), MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, Richard Wolffe, and former Vermont governor and DNC chairman Howard Dean. For about a year starting in the second half of 2009 Lawrence O'Donnell was the regular guest host, filling in frequently as Olbermann cited a need to spend more time with his ailing father, who has since died.^[26][27] In June 2010 it was announced that O'Donnell, like Maddow, would get his own MSNBC show. In the final months of Countdown, guest hosts included Sam Seder and Chris Hayes.^[28]

Countdown was a vehicle for Olbermann's criticism of and rivalry with Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly, whose show The O'Reilly Factor occupied the same time slot as Countdown. In addition to often naming O'Reilly "Worst Person in the World", Olbermann frequently lampooned him in other ways, including referring to him by several nicknames, including Ted Baxter, and when quoting O'Reilly would often do so by impersonating Ted Knight's Ted Baxter voice.

O'Reilly never directly addressed Olbermann's criticisms and rarely mentioned Olbermann by name; on one occasion, however, O'Reilly referred to Olbermann as a "guttersnipe".^[29] Olbermann's criticism has led O'Reilly to critique NBC and MSNBC, accusing them of smearing him and of displaying a left-wing bias. During the January 30, 2006 edition of the O'Reilly Factor's "Talking Points Memo" segment, O'Reilly criticized NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC for "taking cheap shots at Fox News on a regular basis...for some time."^[30]

When O'Reilly was sued for sexual harassment in October 2004 by his former producer, Andrea Mackris, Olbermann urged Mackris to accept $99,000 (US) in exchange for an alleged tape of a phone call that O'Reilly made to Mackris, in which he purportedly incorrectly referred to a loofah as a falafel.^[31] The lawsuit settled out of court and no tapes were made public. Subsequently, Olbermann used the word "falafel" often when referring to O'Reilly,^[32][33]

On February 22, 2006, O'Reilly initiated an online petition, that did not mention Olbermann by name, to have MSNBC remove Olbermann's show from the 8pm EST timeslot, purportedly to have former slot host Phil Donahue's show reinstated. The petition was in the form of a letter addressed to Wright saying: "We, the undersigned, are becoming increasingly concerned about the well-being of MSNBC and, in particular, note the continuing ratings failure of the program currently airing weeknights on that network at 8:00 p.m. EST".^[34] Olbermann responded two days later on Countdown by playing a selection of disparaging television clips featuring O'Reilly ^[35] and mocked the whole affair by joining several MSNBC staffers, including Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams, in signing the petition to have himself fired.

The Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative^[36] media content analysis organization, has been very critical of Keith Olbermann since he became the Countdown host. MRC issued a press release describing Olbermann's November 1, 2006 Special Comment as "preaching hate speech", and describing Olbermann as "a brown-shirted left-winger spew[ing] hate from an NBC-owned podium."^[37] ("Brown-shirt" is a term that was used to describe the Sturmabteilung paramilitary organization of the German Nazi party).

In response, Olbermann has on a number of occasions named MRC founder Brent Bozell, whom he has described variously as "Redbeard the pirate",^[38] and "humorist",^[39] the "worst person in the world" for various comments he has made about Countdown and other topics, such as Bozell's criticism of the New York Times for sponsoring the 2006 Gay Games.^[40] The anchor has also said that the MRC desires "an institutionalized, pro-Republican slant" in the media.^[41]

Olbermann has addressed the assertions of liberal bias by stating that he would be equally critical of a Democratic president who had invited criticism by his actions:

"I mean, no one in 1998, no one accused me of being a liberal in 1998 because I was covering the Lewinsky scandal. And whatever I had to do about it, I tried to be fair and honest and as accurate and as informed as possible, and allow my viewer to be the same way. And nowadays it's the same thing. And now all of a sudden I’m a screaming liberal."^[42]

However, Howard Kurtz has written that Olbermann departed MSNBC the first time as a result of the Clinton-Lewinsky coverage, which he did not personally agree with.^[43]

On November 25, 2006, Fox News Watch panelist Cal Thomas named Olbermann as his choice for 2006's "Media Turkey Award" for what Thomas alleged were Olbermann's "inaccuracies" and "hot air".^[44] Olbermann in turn gave the show the Bronze for "Worst Person in the World", not for naming him "Turkey of the Year", but for spelling his name "Olberman" on the onscreen graphic.^[45]

Olbermann gave Michael Medved "Worst Persons" honors on October 1, 2007 in response to his Townhall.com column titled "Six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery,"^[46] and chided him to "go back to reviewing movies."

In a commentary published in the Los Angeles Times, Howard Rosenberg comments on the show's absence of guests who challenge Olbermann's views, writing "'Countdown' is more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other."^[47]

Starting in 2009, in a response to the controversy over Obama's health care proposal, Olbermann, in conjunction with the National Association of Free Clinics, petitioned his viewers to donate money to provide free clinics in several major cities across the country. This effort has spread to other MSNBC shows such as Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Dylan Ratigan Show and The Ed Show.

Guests regularly featured on the show as of March 2010 include:^[48]

• Jonathan Alter, senior editor for Newsweek magazine—political
• Margaret Carlson, TIME Magazine columnist and author of Anyone Can Grow Up: How George Bush and I Made it to the White House
• Chris Cillizza, blogger for The Washington Post
• Howard Fineman, Newsweek contributor—political
• Christian Finnegan, comedian—tabloid/entertainment
• Christopher Hayes, Washington, D.C. editor for The Nation
• Chris Kofinis, Democratic political strategist
• Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chairman
• Markos Moulitsas, creator of Daily Kos
• Eugene Robinson, newspaper columnist for The Washington Post
• Paul F. Tompkins, comedian—tabloid/entertainment
• Richard Wolffe, Newsweek—politicalHouse—journalistic, political
• Lynn Woolsey, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
• John Dean, former White House Counsel to Richard Nixon—political
• Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of politics and African-American studies, Princeton University—political^[49]

Regular contributors in the show's broadcast history have included:

• Jason Bateman, actor—pop culture
• Pat Buchanan, paleoconservative commentator, former U.S. Presidential Candidate and author—political
• Shannyn Moore, contributor to Huffington Post
• Wesley Clark, retired four-star general—military analyst for MSNBC
• Craig Crawford, columnist for the Congressional Quarterly—political (on location in Washington, D.C.)
• E. J. Dionne, columnist for The Washington Post
• Savannah Guthrie, NBC News Chicago Bureau. former Court TV (now TruTV) correspondent—Michael Jackson trial
• John Harwood, New York Times writer and CNBC contributing reporter—political
• Richard Justice, Sports Writer for the Houston Chronicle
• Rachel Maddow, who also served as a substitute anchor from April through August in 2008 before getting her own MSNBC show.
• General Barry McCaffrey, Ret. — military
• Joel McHale, host of the E! show The Soup - pop culture
• Dana Milbank, a political reporter for The Washington Post, left the show (and MSNBC) in 2008 and joined CNN.
• Maria Milito, New York disc jockey — American Idol
• Michael Musto, editor of The Village Voice— tabloid/entertainment
• Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC political analyst
• Tom O'Neil, editor of Entertainment Weekly—entertainment
• Clarence Page, columnist and member of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune
• Derek Pitts, The Franklin Institute—Space and astronomy-related news
• Sam Seder, who like Rachel Maddow, hosted a show on Air America Radio — political
• David Shuster — MSNBC Live anchor and correspondent; has also served as a fill-in host
• Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight.com - for 2008 presidential election prediction
• Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, Co-Founder and Chairman of VoteVets.org
• Chuck Todd, political director for NBC News
• Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks and MSNBC contributor, has also served as a fill-in host
• Jonathan Turley, professor of law and Constitutional scholar—political
• Clint Van Zandt, former FBI profiler—abductions/murders
• Robin Wright, diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post —terrorism and international events

Interviews with comedians are featured regularly during the final segment of the show; notable appearances have included George Carlin, Lewis Black, Richard Lewis, Mo Rocca, and John Cleese.

On October 28, 2010, five days before the 2010 U.S. elections, Olbermann donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress: Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway, and Arizona Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords.^[50] In response, on November 5 MSNBC President Phil Griffin suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating a network policy regarding political contributions which required prior approval from management.^[51] An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures,^[52] and two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air starting with the November 9 program.^[52]

On the January 21, 2011, episode of Countdown, Olbermann abruptly announced that the show would be his final MSNBC broadcast.^[53] Olbermann thanked viewers, producers, and technical staff for his show's eight-year success. Olbermann did not disclose the reason for his departure, and a statement from MSNBC would only reveal that the two parties had ended the commentator's four-year contract. Many liberal bloggers and commentators blamed the cable operator Comcast for Olbermann's sudden departure, accusing the company of silencing the host for political purposes just days after acquiring NBC Universal on January 18.^[54][55] Statements from MSNBC and Comcast denied this allegation. Daily Beast media critic Howard Kurtz, former MSNBC anchor David Shuster, and an anonymous NBC executive^[56] said that Olbermann's past suspension and subsequent conflicts with network management was a more likely precipitating factor in Countdown's cancellation.

• Official website
• Countdown with Keith Olbermann at IMDb
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