Olbermann Signs New Contract With MSNBC

Keith Olbermann, who took the nation by storm with his strong and focused commentaries on the just-concluded presidential elections, has signed a four-year deal with MSNBC, a move that will see him stay with the network until at least 2012. The announcement was made by the cable news channel Monday afternoon.

Reiterating Olbermann’s contribution to MSNBC, the network said he would ‘play a prominent role’ in ‘all major news events.’ Olbermann’s candid appraisal of the political scene, and no-holds-barred support for Obama, won him many followers among viewers.

In September, The New York Times reported that NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC, was in discussion with Mr. Olbermann to extend his contract through 2013.

Mr. Olbermann will continue to anchor the hugely popular show, Countdown, and co-host NBC’s Football Night in America with a revised remuneration of about $7.5 million a year, up from $4 million a year earlier.

Countdown has been the most popular program on MSNBC since 2003. As of now, the program has more viewers than CNN in the 8 p.m. slot. It soared in popularity during the peak election season, drawing as many as 2.5 million viewers a night.

Even as the public frenzy over the elections subsides, the show is still expected to continue its star run. MSNBC’s president Phil Griffin told the Associated Press that people have ‘found the voices they want to hear.’

Reacting to the new contract, Mr. Olbermann said in a statement, “I’m delighted that we can continue to lock Countdown into the nation’s political dialogue through at least the next election.”

Just which direction Olbermann's scathing criticism will now take is quite unpredictable. Olbermann mentioned that he's done a commentary criticizing Obama for his stance on an intelligence surveillance bill. He's also taken other Democrats to task, including Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.

"The people who watched what I did on this network in 1998 would have been convinced that I was a borderline conservative that tended to criticize Democrats and their conduct in office," Olbermann remarked.

Olbermann made it clear that his support for Obama is not going to be unconditional. "I have no idea what Obama is going to do in office. I have no earthly clue. I mean I have a guess, but I can't predict it," he said.

Monday night's special comment was directed against the Californians who successfully voted for Prop. 8, the measure that bans gay marriages in the state.