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Best of the Olbermann-O'Reilly Feud
Now that the Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly feud is over, The Daily Beast looks back at some of our favorite moments from the epic cable-newser snipefest.
Xtra Insight: Plus, The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove on the Olbermann-O'Reilly sham truce.
Factor Flashback: Bill Demands Olbermann Out, Donahue In
In February 2006, O’Reilly started a petition to get MSNBC to bring back his old timeslot rival, Phil Donahue, and kick Olbermann to the curb. He couched his request in concern for the network, saying Olbermann’s ratings were worse than Donahue’s at his lowest.
The Falafel-Guy Fatwa: Olbermann Fires Back, Sings
Olbermann countered that his ratings might be lower, but the median age of his viewers was lower as well, an important fact considering television advertisers covet younger demographics. “Be concerned about the odds of your viewers living into next week,” Olbermann cautioned.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day: Bill Whips Out His Measuring Stick
Ratings were clearly a sticking point for the hosts. In October 2008, O’Reilly took umbrage with a New York Times article that suggested MSNBC was a competitor for Fox News. “You gonna print that last night, I beat their gutter-snipe at 8 by two million viewers?” O’Reilly asked, referring to his timeslot rival Olbermann. He went on to suggest the Nielsen ratings themselves were being tampered with by NBC sympathizers.
Oddball: Olbermann Whips Out His Own Stick
“Bill-o the Clown has jumped the shark tank that is delusional paranoia,” Olbermann said in his rebuttal. Countering O’Reilly’s argument that the Nielsen ratings had suspiciously odd swings in numbers that were unprecedented in the television business, Keith had his own explanation for the numerical variances: “Um, it’s ‘cause you suck.”
Talking Points Memo: O’Reilly Calls Olbermann a Meanie
In November 2008, CBS Sunday Morning’s Harry Smith interviewed O’Reilly. When asked about Olbermann, an unusually docile, almost vulnerable O’Reilly responded, “They’re just in it to hurt people…The meanness of the discourse in general bothers me.”
Special Comment: Olbermann Quarantines O’Reilly
After Dr. George Tiller’s murder in June 2009, some said O’Reilly’s criticism of the doctor helped incite the violent act. For his part, Olbermann vowed to “quarantine” his coverage of O’Reilly, retiring his graphics, funny voices, and jokes used to mock O’Reilly. “This is serious. Serious as death. Serious as George Tiller’s death,” he said. The self-imposed embargo did not last long, however, casting doubt on the permanence of this network-induced truce, as well.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
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Progressive2
Are you kidding me ? TDB how about when Billo said that the kidnapped and raped kid wanted to be kidnapped ?
nickatdabeach
Here is Obama's Kenyan birth certificate. read it & weep.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764
BasPos
I cannot understand why the coment was removed - i was not the author. One reason I have a problem with O'Reilly is that too much of his commentary seems to be unscripted and off-the-cuff. This is the reason for so many of his comments exceed any sense of decency or thoughtfulness. Olbermann seems highly scripted - his comments on the excesses of the Bush years upset people who thought that everything was fine because they votes for that corrupt dolt.
ktblack
Olbermann's only comeback- "It's because you suck." He will never have as many viewers as O'Reilly not only because he is unlikable but because his arguments have no basis.
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n--Y--crashtextDummyperrycindy
Or that Bill Orally is a bald faced liar who wouldn't recognize the truth if it bit him in the ass.
crngndmhm
People watch O'Reilly because ignorance is bliss. And most are happier than a pig in shit when watching his show
opedanderson
Im no fan of Oreilly, but Olbermann is an egomaniac who's personal attacks against anyone who doesn't step in line with the Obama mantra borders on the insane.
I will give Oreilly one huge pat on the back. He is the only one in the media, on either side, who has criticized the oil industry giants about how they need to help the country and stop price grabbing/controlling.
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n--Y--crashtextDummyLimeridger
O'Reilly may be strident at times, but Olberman personifies the definition of a dufus. Its been 2313 days since the airways have been soiled with his blathering daily delusional diatribes. I only wish that Ben Afflect could have made as many appearances as Olberman on SNL as Tina Fey did re Palin. That would have been "priceless" as he was spot on.
dahniuru
Really, now! Who really cares about these two people as anything but cheap entertainment?
Bunx05
Agreed. Neither is an actual newanchor. Both get paid to make editorial comments about news reports. Both play to their viewers (which is fine). I will say that O'Reilly's ratings are higher because of demographics. Olbermann squashes him with online followers, again due to demographics.
SansSouci572
I think Obama has started a new trend!
Bunx05
Please explain.
OffenbachStutz
Kiss and make up.
Reinhold
I'm actually sorry to see the feud go. I think a lot of media feuds are made-up and dumb, but I liked this one. As a liberal who gets shouted down by conservatives all the time and has for years, I always there was something great about Keith Olbermann fighting back. He always kept swinging...and I liked him for it.
RainyDaze
NBC has caved to the extremists of FOX. To give the GE execs some cover they've thrown out the only comment -- gentle or harsh -- exposing the lies, racism and exteme madness of the right wing's worst elements. "Peace in our time." Who will call out the lies? The cowards at NBC need to be knowing that the Fox bandits have won: While Olbermann assails the liars, they only have to make things a teeny bit uncomfortable for the bosses and they run up the white flag. We've seen this before. NBC = No Balls Company.
rimbaud
The reason there are wild swings in the ratings is no one can stand to listen to either of these clowns for more than a few minutes, even after switching between them. Bill'O has turned into a real blowhard!
Ronym5
Come on these aren't Olbermann's best takedown of Oreally,
bring out Malmedy, Andrea Macris, Falafel, or do it live.....
Those are good and as to the KO haters who deride hime calling people names Billo's pinheads ring a bell?
And as to KO's supposed lies name one?
Meanwhile Wikipedia has an entire page entitled Billo controversies involving his lies, falafels, meltdowns.
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n--Y--crashtextDummythor54
Read Glenn Greenwald's piece on this in Salon to see what's really going on. It's GE protecting itself.
BasPos
That's why I think either antitrust or FCC investigation of this is necessary. If there isn't a law against this, there should be.
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n--Y--crashtextDummyGericault
I think one of Olbermanns best was calling Billo, " The Frank Burns of cable news".
RogerRabbit
It is simply absurd to equate Keith Olbermann to Bill O'Reilly. While Olbermann's outrage may seem strident at times, at least his passion is based on reality and common sense. And to claim he is some kind of Obama mouthpiece ignores the fact that anyone who watches the show has seen KO bash BHO plenty of times. O'Reilly is the "no-spin" clown who repeatedly abuses and shouts down his guests if they don't toe the party line of a "news" organization which is a cruel joke to all but the most ignorant of viewers...
rickjr82
Wow, this feud and racism over in the same week!
Thank you.
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