OLBERMANN RECEIVES BIG WELCOME ON HIS RETURN

Keith Olbermann’s return to MSNBC after a two-day suspension produced big ratings — not only for himself but for the other primetime hosts on the channel. Olbermann’s audience jumped by half as 1.5 million viewers tuned in to hear what he would have to say about his treatment by the network’s bosses. Rachel Maddow also saw her numbers increase by about 50 percent to 1.3 million. Even MSNBC’s 10:00 p.m. host, Lawrence O’Donnell, got a boost to nearly 1 million viewers from his October average of about 780,000. All of those figures, however, were dwarfed by those for the competing Fox News Channel.