O'Reilly vs Olbermann

Here's a great NY TIMES article on the feud and truce between Fox's Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Almost as soon as this article came out, Olbermann came back from vacation and did a scathing piece on O'Reilly, pretty much putting any long term peace on the back burner.

My opinion? Glad you asked. Last time I looked, back during election season, FOX held a HUGE viewer margin over MSNBC. That is the reason why FOX, at first, never acknowledged the Olbermann attacks. One of the most basic broadcast and business tenets is to be aware of, but never recognize, stations or groups that are behind you in the ratings. You are beating them, so there is no reason to draw attention to them. Fox did the right thing to ignore. As the weaker of the two, MSNBC is doing the correct thing by attacking. But I must say, Keith Olbermann's obsession with FOX is bordering on spinning out of control (pun on O'Reilly's NO SPIN ZONE unintended) and can be ponderous to watch more than a few times a month.

Both O'Reilly and Olbermann are great broadcasters and very smart, creative people. You don't get to where they are without being so. The No Spin Zone, to me anyway, is a much easier show to watch, less agenda driven (though all shows in the genre have agenda's), and much less preachy.

Olbermann's show is much tougher for me to watch, but I can't exactly tell you why. Much of it is because of Keith himself. I think I get tired of hearing about everything being bad in America. The Worst Person In The World segment too often becomes a stage for Olbermann to take a shot at other broadcasters, instead of him being a speaker for the mood of the country. Keith is a gifted and creative writer. His tribute to his mom after her passing was a great television moment. He just has so much anger, I'm afraid it will get the best of him and put him in a situation where he has to walk away, much like he did at ESPN TV, ESPN Radio, FOX SPORTS, and a few other jobs. His book THE BIG SHOW, co written with Dan Patrick, is a MUST READ for any would-be broadcaster. But Keith's attitude, that of a cranky 80 yr old who knows he can't change the world, is just too tough me me to take. It bleeds into everything he does. Too bad. I love his passion, but can't take how the message is delivered more than once a week at best.