Bombastic cable news commentator Keith Olbermann is being yanked off NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” this year, according to reports.
Olbermann’s MSNBC bosses are said to be behind the move to remove him from his high-profile spot on the pre-game show, “Football Night In America
,” after complaining that it was distracting him from his job on the cable news network.
Seems Olbermann missed several Friday night editions of his MSNBC show, “Countdown,” because of his commitment to the football show, and NBC news execs were unhappy.
NBC officials assured reporters that Olbermann’s florid, left-of-center politics and tendency to rant against Republicans is not the reason he is being yanked.
It was simply that his new cable bosses did not want the conflict any longer between his cable job and the Sunday night game.
Still, his detractors on the Web were already doubting that his “political unwisdom” has nothing to do with his departure.
Olbermann, 51, has been appearing in one capacity or another on the Sunday night games since 2007. He’s been the host of “Countdown” since 2003.
“Olbermann couldn’t resist a cheap shot at Sarah Palin during last season’s ‘SNF’ coverage,” wrote a blogger on humanevents.com, a conservative Web site.
“When Trent Edwards was carted off the field in a game against Arizona due to a concussion, Olbermann reported the quarterback was ‘Okay otherwise, but he said, “I can see Russia from here.” ‘ ”
NBC officials yesterday did not respond to several emails asking for comment.
The Sunday night game is NBC’s highest-rated program, and losing his weekly spot will mark the end of the promotion his cable show has been getting over the past three years.