Gore and Olbermann, a match made in…

From Hot Air, just a rumor at the moment:

NYT: Olbermann to join … Al Gore’s Current TV

posted at 9:43 pm on February 7, 2011 by Allahpundit 

Unconfirmed thus far, but the Times hears buzz. Two words: “equity stake.”

One of the people with knowledge of the plans said Mr. Olbermann would have an equity stake in Current TV. The people insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized by their employers to comment in advance of the official announcement…

Current TV has set up a presentation with advertisers for Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan to announce its future plans. The channel may be betting on Mr. Olbermann to put it on the cable map. The low-rated five-year-old channel needs the help. Targeting young people, it originally subsisted on YouTube-style submissions and video journalists. More recently it started producing and acquiring traditional television series, like repeats of “This American Life.”…

A move to Current TV would challenge Mr. Olbermann’s fans of his MSNBC show — where he drew about a million viewers a night — to follow him to a channel that is considerably less accessible. Current TV is available in only about 60 million homes, and is usually available only on the digital tier of cable television systems, which requires a separate receiver. MSNBC, which is owned by NBC Universal, is available in 85 million homes and is almost always available as a basic cable entry…

With Current TV, Mr. Olbermann would also gain a measure of independence. Unlike most cable channels, including MSNBC, which are owned by large media companies, Current is privately and independently owned by Mr. Gore and other backers.

==================================================================

I see a “worst global warming denier in the world” feature in our future.

Yech.

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David Falkner
February 7, 2011 11:09 pm

Hahahaha!!! That is too funny. Al Franken couldn’t make Air America work, why would this be any different? Olbermann is actually less likable than Franken. Personally, Olbermann, Franken, Boortz, and Limbaugh are the same person to me. I wish they would just quit with the big mouth stuff and settle things like men. Is that encouraging violence? Well, I don’t want anyone to die, but a fat lip is necessary sometimes as a learning tool. It helps to impede mouths that run too freely. 😉

Honest ABE
February 7, 2011 11:14 pm

This is great news. This assures that the tailspin his career is in will result in a crash he can’t recover from. Olberman is unhinged, Gore is delusional and both of them are liars. Working together can only accelerate their loss of credibility.

Sandy
February 8, 2011 12:01 am

Hmm, high notional ‘equity’ deal,
believers buy in,
Gore surreptitiously sells out on the stock spike…..
Worth a punt???

Scarface
February 8, 2011 12:19 am

This will lead to a new show: America’s Funniest AGW Videos

DonK31
February 8, 2011 12:44 am

Equity stake means that AlGore couldn’t afford to pay him anything based on the network’s profitability.

February 8, 2011 1:08 am

I don’t watch TV (bad for the brain; for digestion, too).
First time I ever heard about Olberman was a few weeks ago, when I noticed a headline on Yahoo News about him quitting CNN.
“Huh?” thought I, skipping it: “Who?” Now the same name floats up on WUWT.
A non-entity is going to be a talking head on Al Gore’s channel. For an equity stake. Nothing I would invest my US$0.02.
There is an Al Gore channel on TV somewhere? Really? Wow. There are more unbelievable things in heaven and earth than are dreamt up by Mann, Hansen, and Schmidt…
Don’t think that I am completely ignorant. I know there is also Putin’s KGB propaganda channel in English (RTTV). I’ve seen it with my own eyes in a Hyatt hotel. Why, exactly, Hyatt hotel chain would subscribe to the KGB TV propaganda, is beyond me. Part of the Moscow concession deal?
I know there is China World News, shown all over Europe (it substitutes for the banned Fox News there, everything else on European TVs is much redder).
Oh, and there is Al-Jazeera — more balanced and less anti-Semitic than BBC, last time I checked.
Maybe I should start attending Thinkers’ Anonymous meetings, and hook up a TV set, after a 20-year hiatus? Just imagine! To spend the rest of my days in pure bliss, chewing donuts and watching Olberman expound upon Al Gore’s sacred sputter…
No sarcasm intended. I am terribly tired, deadly tired of thinking. I am ready to give up. Look around! Admit it to yourself: idiots have won. Resistance is futile. They constitute the overwhelming majority on this planet, and, unlike in ancient times, modern technology won’t allow them to die out. From now on, it’s The Fool’s World. We, homo sapiens, are not needed in it any more.

tango
February 8, 2011 1:27 am

how did they get out of jail that is where thay belong

tim maguire
February 8, 2011 4:20 am

Love the “Olbermann will have greater independence because MSNBC is owned by a corporation.” There’s some serious thinking.

amicus curiae
February 8, 2011 5:00 am

I heard Gore was schmoozing the nerdy tech show down in Sth america recently, all sorts of handy vid tricks like a new program that removes a selected object from the screen, maybe thats where the heat went? and al is on a mission..
or its how he plans to hide the stash hes making, on all the suckersales hes done?

February 8, 2011 5:50 am

David Falkner February 7, 2011 at 11:09 pm :
Hahahaha!!! That is too funny. Al Franken couldn’t make Air America work, why would this be any different? Olbermann is actually less likable than Franken. Personally, Olbermann, Franken, Boortz, and Limbaugh are the same person to me. I wish they would just quit with the big mouth stuff and settle things like men. Is that encouraging violence? Well, I don’t want anyone to die, but a fat lip is necessary sometimes as a learning tool. It helps to impede mouths that run too freely. 😉

Walking, talking example demonstrating the definition of ad hominem (i.e. an ‘attack on the man’ also known as argumentum ad hominem; an attempt to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise) –
– and not on the principles, the ideas or ideals they might espouse.
.

Pull My Finger
February 8, 2011 5:58 am

A totally unhinged and unfettered Olberman will certainly be amusing. For the 5 people who watch Current TV.

Olen
February 8, 2011 6:00 am

Sounds like a good idea. Who is Olbermann again?

Henry chance
February 8, 2011 6:19 am

Makes sense to me. In the world of a tough economy, getting a price break on massage services makes sense and saves on carbon.
From a biz sense, having Keith a ball of fireworks as a partner is very risky.

Mark T
February 8, 2011 6:35 am

No, _Jim, maybe you should research a bit more, that’s just an insult… at worst. When speaking of an on-tv personality, mentioning how likeable (or unlikeable) the personality is formulates a legitimate argument, too. Your own link states that as well.
Oh, and for the record, argumentum ad hominem is not defined as an “attack on the man.” The phrase argument ad hominem means, literally, “argument to the man,” as in, the argument is directed to the man rather than his argument. Your link defines that in the first paragraph.
I’d suggest actually reading your links before offering in defense of your own arguments next time.
Mark

February 8, 2011 6:37 am
Henry chance
February 8, 2011 6:43 am

Joe Romm says the issue is messaging.
Olbermann does have a knack for more intensity in messaging.
I am confused how you think you message away a long set of nasty blizzards. Maybe alGore and Keith can broadcast while wearing speedos from Cancun….except it get frigid there also. Too many goosebumps.

Pamela Gray
February 8, 2011 6:43 am

I love this. Can’t wait for the suspected lineup (she said with tongue in cheek).

Doug in Seattle
February 8, 2011 6:52 am

Can’t think of a better place for him.

February 8, 2011 7:02 am

Talk about being put out to pasture. Goodbye Olbermann.

richard verney
February 8, 2011 7:32 am

Further to Alexander Feht post at February 8, 2011 at 1:08 am, I have watched numerous times RT, CCTV (China World News), Al Jazeera news (and a number of others French, European, Japaneese news programmes) and I consider that it is useful to see the news from a different perspective. In my experience, these channels tend to be less biased than the BBC and sometimes more insightful. I have seen some good debates on RT where they have invited a number of commentators with radically opposed views some of which views the BBC would never dream of airing. Makes you think. Quite informative.

reason
February 8, 2011 7:55 am

I guess this means Arianna wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

February 8, 2011 7:56 am

So, if Olbermann and Gore were in the gondola of a hot air balloon,
how fast would it rise?
Just wondering.

Bruckner8
February 8, 2011 8:02 am

David Falkner says:
February 7, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Hahahaha!!! That is too funny. Al Franken couldn’t make Air America work, why would this be any different?

Al Franken is now in Congress. I don’t think that’s funny.

February 8, 2011 9:11 am

Mark T February 8, 2011 at 6:35 am

Hmmm … Mark, I read you as being all over the ballpark in your response; I still stand by my call too (no substantive issues that any one individual holds or espouses was addressed, just a wide assault and ‘to the man/men’ style argument).
Sorry to clog up the thread with a reply, mods.
.

reason
February 8, 2011 9:32 am

I believe this is official now, per Michelle Malkin.

bikermailman
February 8, 2011 11:53 am

Who would’ve thought Olby could get even less viewers than he did on MSNBC?

Al Gored
February 8, 2011 12:10 pm

Time to change the network name to Blowhard TV. Gore and Olbermann are a perfect match. One can only dream of a ‘news’ show with both of them pontificating, or even better a sitcom… maybe a remake of Gilligan’s Island, with the island threatened by rising sea levels of course, and perhaps Joe Romm guest starring as the Gilligan.
Or maybe a new version of ‘Cheers’ set in Hansen’s lab or at the Climate Rapid Response Team HQ.
The possibilities are endless.

Al Gored
February 8, 2011 12:44 pm

You gotta love this spin…
“For Olbermann, his move to Current gives him a chance to wield large influence over a a relatively tiny network. Current averages about 23,000 viewers in primetime every night–a far cry from the million or so viewers who watched “Countdown.””
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/08/keith-olbermann-newshow-current-tv-news-officer_n_820198.html
LOL. A great opportunity to “influence” 23,000 viewers.

mojo
February 8, 2011 12:50 pm

Are they paying him in Al’s worthless carbon credits?

February 8, 2011 3:17 pm

Keith built a primetime line-up, but can he build a channel? It’ll be interesting to watch, I wish him well, but his accessibility will be limited.

jorgekafkazar
February 8, 2011 6:17 pm

An anagram for Gore + Olbermann is “Globe Near Norm.” It’s a SIGN!

kadaka (KD Knoebel)
February 9, 2011 8:16 am

Fine Print:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/olbermanns-msnbc-exit-was-weeks-in-the-making/

January 22, 2011, 2:48 pm
Olbermann’s MSNBC Exit Was Weeks in the Making
—–
Friday’s separation agreement between MSNBC and Mr. Olbermann includes restrictions on when he can next lead a television show and when he can give interviews about the decision to end his association with the news channel.
The executives involved in the discussions confirmed that the deal carries limitations for Mr. Olbermann in terms of when he can next work on television, though he will be able to take a job in radio or on any forum on the Internet. The deal also prohibits the host from commenting publicly on the deal, the executives confirmed.
—–

An equity stake is not cash. Sounds like maneuvering involving contract law, he is technically not getting paid therefore he is not technically “working” on television.
Note the following from the “equity stake” link above:

The abruptness of Mr. Olbermann’s departure last month suggested that he already had lined up another media job. The Internet domain name TheOlbermannShow.com was registered two days before his televised goodbye. A few days afterward, he set up a new Twitter account, called “FOKNewsChannel,” short for “Friends of Keith.”
The departure came just days before Comcast took control of NBC, leading some to suspect that he was forced out by Comcast — an assertion that the companies vigorously denied. Comcast owns a 10 percent stake in Current TV.

Looks like Keith was getting set up for internet-based relative obscurity. Then Comcast found a way to deflect some criticism, by setting Keith up for relative obscurity at something they had a stake in. It’s a bonus to Comcast if Keith draws in more viewers and the value of their stake rises. If that doesn’t happen, well, it’s not like they were paying him money. Technically Comcast is paying him nothing, as it looks like their 10% stake won’t be going towards whatever equity stake Keith gets. Nor are they at risk for losing anything, as it certainly seems the value of their stake is about as low as it can go.
Moving on….