I smell corporate interest.Comcast is one of the biggest corporate opponents of net neutrality. Keith has spoken repeatedly in favor of it.
Silence is chilling…

You beat me to it…I wonder if Maddow will be next.

He was fired…His last contract was a four year deal made in November 2008, which means that they must have bought out the remainder of the contract. The buyout settlement apparently prevents him from bolting to CNN (or any competitor) in the near future, because it included a strict non-compete clause.
We won’t be seeing Olbermann on the air for awhile, and we may not even get to hear his side of the story depending on the terms of his severance agreement. If he doesn’t post a diary at Daily Kos in the next 24 hours, that means he’s been officially muzzled by Comcast.
This was Comcast’s doing, no doubt about it. They cleared the last major hurdle to complete the merger this week when the FCC approved the deal to move forward. There’s still some legal formalities to go through, but the deal is done for all practical pruposes, and Comcast is calling the shots.
From the sounds of it, he was literally informed of this tonight, and Josh Marshall of TPM had no knowledge of this until he got home, even though he was the first guest of the show.
Schultz, Maddow, and O’Donnell will all be reminded on Monday who signs their paychecks, and they’ll all be sternly warned that they can suffer the same fate if they get out of line.
Two words you’ll never hear mentioned again in a positive light on MSNBC: “Net Neutrality”.
By the end of the year, Maddow will probably get fired too.
This sucks.

New lineup…Starting Monday:
6PM ET Cenk Uygur
7PM Hardball w/Chris Matthews
8PM ET The Last Word w/Lawrence O’Donnell
9PM ET The Rachel Maddow Show
10PM ET The Ed Show

I would burn my TVbefore I would ever do business with Comcast.

I sure hope notRachel is one of the few people worth listening to on TV today.

KeithI started a facebook group called “Bring Keith olbermann back”, in the hopes of getting many thousands to “like” the page so I can send to comcast and tell them what a dire mistake it was that they made. feel free to like the page if you wish, or to leave comments and suggestions.
Thanks!

sad dayIt is a sad day for US television journalism.  If they ditch Rachel too, then I’ll boycott NBC.  I already abandoned Comcast a year and a half ago, but that was just for crappy service.  Grrrrrrr.

Face-saving return to sports?There’s a diary up over at Dailykos full of media insider speculation ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/… ) that KO is returning to sports, via a Comcast-owned cable channel. Of course, no one knows if its true or not, but it would be the kind of face-saving gesture that accompanies a firing like this. Were he to move to sports, everyone could claim no hard feelings.
I am thrilled, though, that Dr. Maddow’s blend of sardonic snarkiness with a whole heap more facts than any of her competitors has kept her unscathed. Quite frankly, Maddow is such an amazing addition to the lineup – both in her own show and in the combined NBC/MSNBC political coverage – that even Rupert Murdoch himself likely wouldn’t be stupid enough to let her go. Her show is the only one on cable that manages to be entertaining, engrossing and of a very clear viewpoint, without any of the rancor or loudness you see on any other show. She’s like the newsier Jon Stewart – even her political adversaries can’t help but like her, even as she destroys their arguments. (Aside, if you didn’t see Maddow last night on Bill Mahr’s show, it’s more than worth a search of the internets. She’s absolutely amazing as the only progressive and only woman on the panel. Her best line – “when two Republicans start talking about legalizing drugs, I know to shut up.”)
We’ll see where Keith turns up, but no matter what gag clauses may exist, the truth will out.  

This is an assassination without a bulletComcast put a contract out on Keith’s show. I’m sure it was part of the merger that Olbermann be fired. So now Comcast can say “Okay Rachel, Lawrence, Cenk and especially you, Ed Shultz, stay in line, or the next chalk line might be around you.
As someone said on JMG, it’s a Comcastration.

My Two CentsLatest FaBlog: Fait Diver — Keith Canned By Comcast  

Remember…Keith was working on the NBC Sunday night NFL game as a commentator and analyst.

The rumor is……that he may not be completely exiled from NBC Universal, just MSNBC. Comcast owns Versus network, which is a direct competitor of ESPN and Fox Sports Net. After the buyout is complete, Versus is likely going to be rebranded as “NBC Sportsnation” or something along those lines incorporating the NBC name and peacock logo into its brand.
The big rumor is that Olbermann will be returning to his roots to co-host a “Sportcenter” style program alongside his longtime broadcast partner Dan Patrick. This would be a huge Fuck You to EPSN and finally give KO the chance to settle a score against his old bosses.