KEITH WHO? MSNBC’S RATINGS UNAFFECTED BY HIS DEPARTURE

The departure of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC had little effect on the cable news network’s overall ratings during the last quarter, the New York Times observed today (Wednesday). During the quarter, Olbermann’s replacement, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, averaged 974,000 viewers, down only slightly from Olbermann’s average of 1.06 million during the same period a year ago. “It is striking to see that MSNBC’s ratings held up as well as they did in the second quarter, given that Mr. Olbermann, who departed MSNBC in January, was the heart and soul of the channel for the better part of a decade,” the Times commented.