[UPDATE BELOW] Former MSNBC news host Keith Olbermann will announce his next move in just a few minutes. (There's a countdown clock here for all you Olberfanns.) But Media Decoder already knows the gist of what he's going to say: Olbermann is going to have a show on Current TV, the editorially progressive network founded by former Vice President Al Gore in 2005. Compared to 85 million MSNBC viewers, Current, um, currently has about 60 million, and unlike MSNBC, it doesn't come with basic cable. So if a liberal bloviates in the forest and only treehuggers are there to hear him, does really he make a sound?
Current certainly hopes so. Salon notes, "Current TV originally set out to break the cable mold with a mixture of user-generated content, internet-friendly short segments called 'pods,' and some sort of partnership with Google. These ideas never really worked out, and after massive layoffs during the recession, Current could use some new wind in her sails."
We'll have to wait for his announcement to find out what exactly Olbermann will be doing with Current. His exit agreement with MSNBC prevents him from joining another television outlet for an unpublicized amount of time. Or maybe this whole thing is a red herring—last night cool Keith tweeted, "OK it's true! I've signed with the Yankees. I'm competing with Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon for the 5th Starter's job."
Update 11:04 a.m.: In a new tweet, Olbermann announces, "Greetings from Keith Olbermann, Chief News Officer of Current Media! And awayyyyyy we go!"
