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Current TV To Enter AM News Competition With Radio’s Bill Press And Stephanie Miller

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday March 5, 2012 @ 5:32am PSTTags: Current TV, Current TV Programming

They’ll join the lineup in early spring with Current offering simulcasts of their radio shows. Full Court Press: The Bill Press Show will run from 6-9 AM ET, and  Talking Liberally: The Stephanie Miller Show will follow until noon. Here’s the network’s release:

 New York, NY – March 5, 2012 – Current TV today announced the launch of a new morning news block featuring live simulcasts of the radio programs “The Bill Press Show” from 6am-9am ET and “The Stephanie Miller Show” from 9am-12pm ET every weekday starting early this spring. These additions further strengthen Current’s line-up of political commentary and analysis programs which include “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” “The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur,” and “The War Room with Jennifer Granholm”. READ MORE »

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Current TV Ad Campaign Brands Channel As “Politically Direct”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday January 30, 2012 @ 7:41am PSTTags: Cenk Uygur, Current TV, Keith Olbermann

I don’t know why Current avoided calling itself a politically progressive channel with its new ad campaign and slogan: “We Are Politically Direct.” If you’re direct, then why not just say what you are? In any event, here’s the campaign’s first spot for Current’s primetime lineup with Keith Olbermann, Cenk Uygur, … Read More »

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Current TV “Going Forward” With Keith Olbermann, And “We’re Not For Sale”: TCA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 13, 2012 @ 6:21pm PSTTags: Al Gore, Current TV

Keith Olbermann Put In Charge Of Election Coverage On Current TV

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

The mercurial Keith Olbermann — who reportedly clashed with his bosses at Current TV last week over whether he would be leading … Read More »

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TOLDJA! Keith Olbermann Put In Charge Of Election Coverage On Current TV

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday January 8, 2012 @ 6:49pm PSTTags: Current TV, Keith Olbermann

EXCLUSIVE: My insiders say there’s finally an agreement tonight between Keith Olbermann and Current TV giving him ”carte blanche” to plan and program the channel’s 2012 election coverage. But the truce doesn’t come in time for Olbermann to do the entire 4-hour … Read More »

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Will Keith Olbermann Control All Election Coverage On Current TV Or Won’t He? He Gets Channel To Blink – But It’s Just A Wink

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday January 6, 2012 @ 9:13pm PSTTags: Current TV, Keith Olbermann

EXCLUSIVE: This week there was a rift. Then tonight what looked like an outright win for Keith Olbermann over his current employer Current TV. But now the rift is back on after the channel is ”doing a complete 180,” sources tell me. Here’s what happened: Earlier tonight Olbermann was assured by Current TV that it was giving him ”carte blanche” to plan and program and book participants for the entire 4-hour block of New Hampshire GOP presidential primary coverage this coming Tuesday night. And that wasn’t all. “It can be said that Current has seen the light. It can be assumed that Keith will have control over election coverage going forward,” one of my sources assured me. But later tonight Current TV changed its mind and now is refusing to give Olbermann the time slot. Stay tuned. I have a feeling this is going to seesaw throughout the weekend between Current TV and its chief news officer/controversial liberal commentator. Read More »

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Keith Olbermann Weighing Legal Options In Dispute Over Current TV Election Coverage

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday January 4, 2012 @ 5:32pm PSTTags: Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Keith Olbermann

At issue is whether Keith Olbermann controls the 8 PM (ET) time slot on Current — or just his show, Countdown With Keith Olbermann, which typically fills the hour. I’m told that the commentator and his powerhouse lawyer Patricia Glaser are reviewing his contract to decide how to proceed after Current preempted his show last night to cover the Republican caucuses in Iowa with Al Gore, Jennifer Granholm, and Cenk Uygur. Olbermann isn’t on board yet to contribute to next week’s coverage of the New Hampshire primary, although Current still wants him to participate. But something would have to give: The control issue was a big deal for Olbermann last year when he left MSNBC and joined Current as an anchor and chief news officer. Current also believes that it has the right to shape its coverage of special events, and has a unique opportunity this year to make a splash by having Gore — a former vice president, and the channel’s co-founder – as part of the mix.

The rift has been building since mid-November when Current president David Bohrman broached the idea of having Olbermann lead the network’s team coverage. The commentator opted to have Countdown run per usual and said on his December 22 broadcast that he’d be back after the holidays “live, live, live” for the Iowa caucus results. Olbermann continued with his plan until yesterday when Read More »

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Jennifer Granholm Joins Current TV For Weeknight Talk Show

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 9:09am PDTTags: Al Gore, Cenk Uygur, Current TV, Joel Hyatt, Keith Olbermann

UPDATE, 12:45 PM: Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm will anchor The War Room from San Francisco so she and her husband can continue with their temporary appointments teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. She’ll also continue to appear on Meet The Press. Granholm says her show will focus primarily on politics and public policy with a special focus on “solutions to the most pressing problems out there.” But she hopes to leven the mix by regularly featuring contributions from satirist Brett Erlich as well as viewer-generated content such as videos from the campaign trail. Granholm describes herself as being “on the left end of the spectrum” but with views that were shaped by her experience as “a pragmatic governor.” Current co-founder Al Gore says that he’ll appear from time to time on the network’s shows, including Granholm’s — and may participate in coverage of election news events. Although Granholm has no experience as a talk show host, the former vice president says he’s confident that she’ll be a fast learner: “If she had not been born in Canada, she’d be a leading candidate for president,” he says.

Here’s Current’s release: Read More »

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Cenk Uygur Joins Current TV As It Revamps Into “A New News Network”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday September 20, 2011 @ 7:18am PDTTags: Al Gore, Cenk Uygur, Current TV, Joel Hyatt, MSNBC, The Young Turks Cenk Uygur

The addition of The Young Turks is part of a larger plan to turn Current TV into an all-news network — described by CEO Joel Hyatt as “a new news network for a new kind of news viewer.” The channel’s chairman, former Vice President Al Gore, added in a brief press conference that “you won’t have to wait that long” for an announcement about another on-air hire. It would likely be for a show to follow Countdown With Keith Olbermann, which airs at 8 PM ET. Uygur says that he will continue to host his two-hour daily show on YouTube in addition to his new one on Current, which he descibes as “a gathering place for progressives to meet and discuss the issues of the day.” The network says it has no ratings target for the show, which will be broadcast from Los Angeles. Here’s the release about Uygur’s new show: Read More »

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Shelley Lewis To Run Programming For Current TV

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday September 15, 2011 @ 9:14am PDTTags: Current TV

New York, (September 15, 2011) – Current TV, the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning television network, has tapped network news and digital executive Shelley Lewis as Executive Vice President, Programming, for Current TV. Lewis, who most recently was Executive Producer of PBS’s weekly news magazine, “Need to Know,” will begin her new post September 19th and will report to Current TV President, David Bohrman.

Lewis brings significant experience in broadcast news, digital content, and in launching new programming initiatives to Current. At Current, she will drive the network’s recent focus on news analysis and political commentary, with an initial focus on primetime.

Read More »

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David Bohrman Named Current TV President

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday August 8, 2011 @ 9:46am PDTTags: Al Gore, CNN, Current TV, Joel Hyatt, Keith Olbermann
Nellie Andreeva

Following last month’s executive shakeup at Current TV in which CEO Mark Rosenthal abruptly resigned and was replaced by co-founder Joel Hyatt, the fledgling cable network has hired veteran news executive David Bohrman as president. Bohrman, who starts immediately, … Read More »

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UPDATE: Current TV CEO Mark Rosenthal Departs After Power-Sharing Arrangement Collapses

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday July 28, 2011 @ 4:15pm PDTTags: Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV

UPDATE, 8:10 PM: Reached late Thursday, Rosenthal said “Joel and I always had a great collaboration and we remain close friends. And Joel was instrumental in negotiating for Keith Olbermann to come to Current.”

PREVIOUS, 4:15 PM: Mark Rosenthal decided to leave because Joel Hyatt was crowding him in, we’re told. The co-founder wanted to run Current again after Rosenthal recruited Keith Olbermann to come on board. The channel began to generate a lot of buzz as its focus shifted to news commentary and politics as opposed to long form non-fiction programming. Hyatt’s desire to run the operation reached the point where he and Rosenthal agreed a few months ago to be co-CEOs, although the company didn’t announce that change. But the the channel’s too small to require two chiefs. What’s more, Rosenthal had held bigger jobs by himself when he was CEO of Interpublic Media and COO of MTV Networks. He was a board member at Current when Hyatt asked him to step in and professionalize the programming, marketing, affiliate sales, ad sales, and research efforts at the channel that used to be based in San Francisco. Olbermann’s said to be upset by Rosenthal’s decision to leave his job and the Current board. But even Current’s most famous personality doesn’t have the clout to overrule Hyatt.

PREVIOUS, 3:03 PM: Current TV has just released this statement about its CEO Mark Rosenthal leaving the network, a little more than a month after the premiere of the revamping network’s new flagship news show Countdown With Keith Olbermann. Co-founder Joel Hyatt is replacing him. The statement: Read More »

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Where To See Rupert’s Scandal Testimony

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday July 18, 2011 @ 4:31pm PDTTags: BBC, Current TV, Keith Olbermann, News of the World, News of the World Hacking, News of the World Phone-Hacking Scandal, Rupert Murdoch

Most cable news networks and their Web sites plan to cover Tuesday’s 6:30 AM PT parliamentary hearing about the News Of The World phone hacking and police bribery scandal. Members of the Culture, Media and Sport committee will have first … Read More »

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Keith Olbermann’s Ratings Fall In Week 2, But No Worries – Yet

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday July 5, 2011 @ 10:11am PDTTags: CNN, Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Keith Olbermann, Keith Olbermann Current TV, MSNBC, TV Ratings

Ratings for Current’s new incarnation of Countdown With Keith Olbermann were bound to fall in the show’s second week as the curiosity factor wore off and people began their July 4 vacations. Still, the numbers from last week are … Read More »

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Keith Olbermann Logs Demo Win Over CNN In His Current TV Premiere

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday June 21, 2011 @ 6:06pm PDTTags: Cable News Ratings, Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Keith Olbermann
Nellie Andreeva

It’s always better to have unfiltered ratings information instead of selected portions released by the networks in question, but in the case of Current TV that is not possible since the data is private, so we have to rely … Read More »

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Keith Olbermann Debuts On Gore’s Current: Same Show But Anti-Big Business Slant

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday June 20, 2011 @ 9:07pm PDTTags: Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Keith Olbermann, Keith Olbermann Current TV, Michael Moore, MSNBC

If you used to watch Countdown With Keith Olbermann when it was on MSNBC, then you have a pretty good idea what it’s like on Current based on the first show tonight. The theme music from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the “Worst … Read More »

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Keith Olbermann Warns Of “Bullshit” Attacks On His New Show And Says Donald Sutherland Will Be A Regular Commentator

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday June 17, 2011 @ 9:36am PDTTags: Bill O'Reilly, Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Donald Sutherland, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC

Will there be any substantive difference between Countdown With Keith Olbermann, which debuts Monday night on Current, and its most direct competitor, MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell? Don’t ask Olbermann. “I haven’t seen Lawrence’s show,” he told reporters on Friday. “I have not watched MSNBC for more than five minutes since I left it” in January. But viewers and especially MSNBC executives might be surprised to hear that Olbermann says he felt a “self-chilling effect” there to tone down his commentaries out of fear that he might “honk somebody off” at another NBCUniversal unit or in the news operation. Praising the “purity” of Current, he says that, ”even in writing the practice shows, I’ve stopped myself from stopping myself.”

Olbermann warned reporters in a conference call not to be swayed by ratings “bullshit” as rivals release data showing that few people will be watching his new show. ”We’re in this for the long haul,” he said, adding that there are no set audience targets. If just 10 technicians for the show can see it on Monday, “that would be a satisfactory audience.” Current reaches about 60 million cable and satellite homes, which puts it at a disadvantage to MSNBC, which goes to about 97 million and Fox News at about 102 million.

Olbermann said that actor Donald Sutherland will frequently appear on the show as a commentator. Other newly announced regulars are Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi; former Nixon White House counsel John Dean; activist group Demos’ Heather McGhee; law professor Jonathan Turley; comedian Maysoon Zayid; Franklin Institute Chief Astronomer Derrick Pitts; and reporters Kate Sheppard and Jeremy Scahill. Read More »

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‘Countdown With Keith Olbermann’ Taps EP

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 31, 2011 @ 8:33am PDTTags: Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV
Nellie Andreeva

David Sarosi of Keith Olbermann’s old Countdown show on MSNBC has been named executive producer of Olbermann’s new Countdown on Current TV, which will premiere June 20. “Nobody knows what Countdown should be, more than Dave Sarosi,” said Olbermann, host of Countdown With Keith Olbermann and Chief News Officer at … Read More »

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Keith Olbermann’s Current TV Show Gets Name, Premiere Date

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 26, 2011 @ 7:43am PDTTags: Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Current TV, Keith Olbermann, premiere date
Nellie Andreeva

Keith Olbermann’s new show on Al Gore’s Current TV will have the same name as his old one on MSNBC — Countdown With Keith Olbermann. It will  also air in Olbermann’s old 8 PM slot beginning June 20, 2011. Olbermann … Read More »

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Current TV Announces Programming Slate

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 9, 2011 @ 12:17pm PSTTags: Current TV, Current TV Programming, Keith Olbermann, Keith Olbermann Current TV, TV
Nellie Andreeva

With its biggest programming announcement, the launch of a Keith Olbermann primetime show, made yesterday, Current TV held an anticlimactic upfront presentation today, at which it unveiled other new series and specials. Here is the cable network’s upcoming slate: Read More »

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