Keith Olbermann

"Olbermann" redirects here. For his 2013 sports talk show, see Olbermann (TV series).

Keith Olbermann
Olbermann in 2008
Born
Keith Theodore Olbermann[1]

(1959-01-27) January 27, 1959 (age 65)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materCornell University (B.S.)
Occupations
  • Sports announcer
  • broadcast journalist
  • political commentator
Years active1980s–present
Television
Political partyDemocratic
AwardsThree Edward R. Murrow Awards[2]
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers194 thousand[3]
Total views30,495,312[3]
Last updated: June 14, 2024
Websitetwitter.com/keitholbermann

Keith Theodore Olbermann (/ˈoʊlbərmən/; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning the Best Sportscaster award from the California Associated Press three times. He co-hosted ESPN's SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he was a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and a host for Fox Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball.

From March 2003 to January 2011, Olbermann hosted the weeknight political commentary program Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. He received attention for his pointed criticism of American conservative and right-wing politicians and public figures.[4][5][6][7][8] Although he has frequently been described as a "liberal",[9] he has often rejected being labelled politically, stating, "I'm not a liberal. I'm an American."[10]

From 2011 to March 30, 2012, Olbermann was the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of a Current TV program also called Countdown with Keith Olbermann.[11][12] From July 2013 until July 2015 he hosted a late-afternoon show on ESPN2 and TSN2 called Olbermann,[13] as well as TBS's Major League Baseball postseason coverage. From September 2016 until November 2017, he hosted a web series for GQ, titled The Closer with Keith Olbermann, covering the 2016 U.S. presidential election, later renamed The Resistance with Keith Olbermann after the victory of Donald Trump.[14]

In January 2018, Olbermann returned to ESPN's SportsCenter program, expanding in May to some baseball play-by-play work. On October 6, 2020, he again resigned from ESPN to start a political commentary program on his YouTube channel.[15][16] On August 1, 2022, Olbermann relaunched Countdown with Keith Olbermann as a daily podcast with iHeartRadio.[17] It is described as a news-driven show featuring his trademark "Special Comment" political analysis, "The Worst Persons in the World" segment, and readings from the works of humorist James Thurber.

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  3. ^ a b "About CountdownWithKO". YouTube.
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  14. ^ "Keith Olbermann bringing political commentary to GQ". Business Insider/Associated Press. September 12, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  15. ^ Flood, Brian (October 7, 2020). "Keith Olbermann walks away from ESPN gig to bash Trump on daily YouTube show". Fox News. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  16. ^ Strauss, Ben. "Keith Olbermann leaves ESPN (again) to 'bring flamethrower' to Trump on YouTube show". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  17. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 25, 2022). "Keith Olbermann Is Bringing 'Countdown' Back as Daily Podcast With iHeartMedia". Variety. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.