Special "Countdown" won't be, says KO

Don't tell anyone, but one of the shows airing Sunday night opposite "60 Minutes" -- the No. 1 program on TV the past two weeks -- is "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." NBC executives decided to give KO a shot at doing his fast-rising cable show in prime time, which is mighty big of them given it's the last week in summer and "60" is hotter than a Laredo parking lot. (Ah, we miss Dan.)

Then there's the matter of putting an edgy, audience-specific cable show on a blowtorch like NBC. It's hard to imagine a better illustration of the difference between narrowcast and broadcast than "Countdown," which on a good night is seen by a million people, leading into "Sunday Night Football," where Olbermann now moonlights and which, on a bad night, gets ten times that audience.

So is KO planning anything different to increase "Countdown's" appeal to a wider audience? The short answer is, not much. In a phoner with reporters earlier this week, Olbermann said he planned to make minimal changes for his V.S. "Countdown." He will put together the show that morning, just like he always does. The only break in format will be a segment with his "Sunday Night" teammates Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth.

He did say he was preparing one of his "Special Comments" to address the Michael Vick case. But you won't have to miss Andy Rooney to watch it. Olbermann's giving it during the football telecast.

In another tidbit, you may recall Dan Patrick is departing ESPN Radio. Olbermann had reunited with his old "SportsCenter" co-anchor on "The Dan Patrick Show" and become a regular there. But now Patrick is leaving ESPN, and Olbermann, it was famously said, didn't just burn bridges with ESPN brass in Bristol, he napalmed them. But KO revealed he is under contract to ESPN Radio through March and is in discussions to do something Patrick-free with them. According to USA Today, that could include baseball playoff coverage for the network.

Comments

[Jason]

This won't do very well for NBC, but it will definitely give Countdown its best audience ever in my opinion. I don't mind NBC testing this program out, but lets face it. Countdown is not a news program. Its commentary drizzled over news headlines. Its also surprising that Countdown's appearance on NBC has gotten no negative feedback. If the O'Reilly Factor suddenly appeared on the Fox network people would freak out. The reality is that both programs are really the same show with different viewpoints attatched to them. Should be interesting to see what happens.

[BeProudAmerica.com]

The reason why countdown hasn't drawn much negative feedback is because most know that Obermann and his show are irrelevant. He tries so hard to create controversay by attacking people like OReilly, Beck others to get attention. Countdown is pretty boring and offers no new material, if he wasn't as bias about who he selects for the 'countdown', he would gain much more credit.

[Scout Finch]

Countdown is far and away the best news broadcast on TV today and Keith Olbermann has certainly set a higher standard for cable news. His ratings are skyrocketing because people are tired of the same old opinion media known as Faux News. People are certainly tired of getting their White House talking points from the shills over at Fox and the rising ratings of Countdown are quite telling. It seems the only thing dropping faster than Fox ratings are Republican approval ratings.

[Ed Dravecky III]

I'm a big fan of "Countdown" but I'll be pleasantly surprised if this does anything ratings-wise other than get stomped by "60 Minutes" and "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" given the timeslot and the lack of non-MSNBC on-air promotion. The only upside I can see is a possible ratings boost for MSNBC when people who sample the show on Sunday come looking for more during the week.

It's smart to give Olbermann at least SOME network exposure...His show is the only thing on MSNBC that doesn't finish a distant third in the ratings..

I'm not sure I would call his show "hot"...It doesn't even get a million viewers a night.

[Mark Jeffries]

But it does much better in the key demographics wanted by advertisers than Loofah Felafel, whose demos are primarily the elderly--and now you know why FNC runs the same ads you see on "The Price is Right."

Of course, any discussion of news ratings has to have this pointed out--Katie, Brian and Charlie (and the "NewsHour") combined still have a bigger audience, even if aging, every night than CNN, MSNBC and FNC combined do day-long. And Loofah's cable numbers are regularly dwarfed by the dominant cable ratings-getters of sports, the WWE, "The Closer," Disney Channel shows and "SpongeBob." Hell, "John From Cincinnati" got better ratings than Loofah.

You can play with the numbers all you like...The Letterman people have been trying that for years.

The 700,000 viewers that Olbermann gets isn't anywhere near as "Demographic friendly" as the 1 million Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert get a night. Those shows are much more "hotter"...

[Mark Jeffries]

OK, Mr. Anonymous, I'll agree with you on Stewart/Colbert (and why don't you have the guts to give your name?). But just tell me this: How many times during the day, including prime time, do Liberty Medial Supply, Colonial Penn Insurance, Hoverround and Scooter Store ads run on FNC compared (if at all) to CNN and MSNBC? Even if CNN and MSNBC's demos aren't that much younger, they're at least more affluent, while FNC's audience is almost entirely trailer-park trash and fratboys hoping that Cavuto will have another porn star on.

And explain to me why FNC is on the Christian satellite service SkyAngel, supposedly dedicated to family-friendly programming, when Loofah chuckles at "Girls Gone Wild" and Cavuto features porn stars and sexist comments. What kind of "family-friendly, Christian" programming is that?

I haven't mentioned Fox News once. My main argument is that the Olbermann show, while a mild success for MSNBC, is not exactly the ratings giant some claim it to be. It's a hit, FOR MSNBC...Many nights it loses to Nancy Grace, for God's sake.

As for Fox News, I don't take it to be a News channel so much as an opinion channel. Clearly, you don't like their point of view---particularly with the "trailer park trash" blast (You apparently have forgotten that the extremely rich are Conservatives, and watch that channel as well)

For those of us who are rational human beings, and have lives and thus don't spend 20 hours a day on politics...We yearn for a day when we can just get the news...No opinion, just the news. Perhaps someday our dream will become reality. Let's hope.