Keith Olbermann is putting his days as a political pundit behind him and returning to his roots. He’s officially going back to ESPN and has been given a new late-night talk show on ESPN2. The new show will begin in late August.
This news had been expected after The New York Daily News reported it Friday. At that point, the situation was still “very fluid,” but on Tuesday, sources for The Hollywood Reporter said that he was finalizing the deal.
ESPN made it official with a statement on Wednesday, welcoming back Olbermann. His new show will simply be titled Olbermann and will begin on Aug. 26.
“Keith is a one-of-a-kind personality and these shows will be appointment viewing for that very reason,” ESPN president John Skipper stated. “Keith brings a blend of editorial sophistication and unpredictability — you can never be sure what you’ll get. Olbermann on ESPN2 gives viewers the quality late-night complement to ESPN’s SportsCenter in the same way we’ve developed distinct show options across our networks the rest of the day.”
“Apart from the opportunity to try to create a nightly hour of sports television that no fan can afford to miss, I’m overwhelmed by the chance to begin anew with ESPN,” Olbermann added, noting that people still associate him with his ESPN work, even though he hasn’t been there since 1997.
Olbermann previously worked at ESPN on SportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. He would go on to become a political pundit on MSNBC and then on Current. But lately, he’s been moving back to sports since he left Current. Last month, he joined TBS to help cover the MLB playoffs in October.
The Olbermann deal comes at an important time for ESPN, since it may soon have a major competitor. This August, Fox is launching Fox Sports 1.
image: Wikimedia Commons
