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Keith Olbermann: Joe Scarborough ‘One Of The Worst Human Beings I’ve Ever Met’, Worrisome of Alex Wagner

“The entire morning of MSNBC’s programming features — and is ruled with an iron fist by — one of the worst human beings I have ever met,” said Olbermann.

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While detailing his history with new MSNBC primetime host Alex Wagner Tuesday, Keith Olbermann laid into MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough with some of the harshest criticisms imaginable on his Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast.

“The entire morning of MSNBC’s programming features — and is ruled with an iron fist by — one of the worst human beings I have ever met,” said Olbermann. “The man who, in every day in 2015 and the start of 2016, tried to mainstream Donald Trump to the MSNBC audience and only stopped when he realized Trump was not going to offer him the Vice Presidency, ‘Joey Scars’ himself, Joe Scarborough.”

Olbermann’s sentiment came after he detailed his desire for Alex Wagner, whose new MSNBC show Alex Wagner Tonight debuts this evening, to be a guest host on his MSNBC version of Countdown during the late 2000s, but in his eyes, her lack of work ethic doomed her candidacy.

“I, along with the last executive producer of MSNBC version of Countdown, Richard Stockwell, all saw Alex Wagner from Politics Daily with The Huffington Post on, I’m pretty sure, Hardball with Chris Matthews. As we TV fatheads say, she popped. Jumped right off the screen. In many ways, not unlike Maddow did, before and after all the MSNBC geniuses who claimed credit for her success now fired her in 2006. Alex Wagner was well spoken, intelligent, informed, and vivacious, and you can teach any of those things but you cannot teach all of them to the same person.”

Olbermann then noted there was just one problem with Wagner. Just like Rachel Maddow, Wagner struggled to read the teleprompter. But unlike Maddow, Wagner, according to Olbermann, wasn’t willing to put in the work to fix the issue.

“When Stockwell and I lit upon the idea that Alex Wagner might be the next great guest host of Countdown and maybe someday, like the others (Maddow and O’Donnell) host her own MSNBC show spun off from ours, we invited her up for an audition and a meet-and-greet. Stockwell handled the audition and he came back to me that night crestfallen. It wasn’t only that Alex Wagner could not read the teleprompter, Stockwell told her ‘I told her we can teach her the teleprompter. She could become as good as Maddow in 30 minutes but she said how hard could it be? I can pick it up. Anyway, I gotta go to a dinner party’. Now, I didn’t hear that. That’s what Stockwell told me. I doubt he had the imagination to make it up.

“We talked to our people at Countdown and other MSNBC shows who had produced her segments and the same message came back each time. ‘Nice person, very intelligent, mails it in.’ “

Olbermann then went on to point out the amount of shows and career stops Wagner has had over the last 12 years since her Countdown audition, while saying while it may not sound like it, he wishes her success in her new role.

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Media Business

iHeartMedia Tulsa and Oklahoma City Senior VP of Programming Don Cristi Exits

“I literally loved every minute of overseeing our stations in Tulsa and four years ago adding the awesome group in Oklahoma City.”

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After 20 years leading brands at iHeartMedia in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Senior Vice President of Programming Don Cristi has announced his departure from the company.

In his role, Cristi oversaw news/talk station 1300 The Patriot in Tulsa. He also had oversight of Newsradio 1000 KTOK in Oklahoma City.

“I literally loved every minute of overseeing our stations in Tulsa and four years ago adding the awesome group in Oklahoma City,” Cristi wrote in a social media post announcing the move.

He added that programming 97.5 KMOD — the classic rock station in Tulsa — was the highlight of his tenure.

“That I got the privilege of programming 20 of KMOD’s 50 years is something I’ll treasure forever.”

Cristi exits in conjunction with a round of cuts at iHeartMedia last week. Another pair of Senior Vice Presidents of Programming at local markets — L.J. Smith in Columbia, SC and Erich West in Huntsville, Alabama — also departed the company.

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Media Business

Elon Musk Wants ‘Prominent Names’ From Both Political Sides for Shows on X

“We want to make sure that there are a wide variety of viewpoints. We always have.”

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(Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times)

In a highly anticipated interview with Don Lemon that led to the cancellation his the former CNN anchor’s contract with the platform, X owner Elon Musk shared his opinion that the platform is a hub for everyone on the political spectrum.

One of the first topics tackled between Don Lemon and Elon Musk in the one-hour interview was the role X would play in the future of news media and journalism.

Lemon questioned Musk on his intentions after former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — who was ousted on the same day as Don Lemon in 2023 — launched his digital video show on the X platform.

The billionaire said there is enough room on X for someone of Carlson’s ilk and for someone like Don Lemon or Rachel Maddow on the other side of the political aisle to share their opinions as well.

“We want to make sure that there are a wide variety of viewpoints,” Musk said. “We always have. For example, Tucker Carlson, who most people will view as being on the right. That’s quite a prominent name on the right. We want to have prominent names to the left as well, to provide different points of view, as well as centrist. Just, basically, a wide range of viewpoints on the platform, so users can hear different opinions.

“They can hear what’s your point of view, what’s his point of view, and people can make their own decision about what they want to believe.”

Musk comments to Lemon came before he decided to cancel the platform’s contract with the content creator. In response, Lemon claimed “I’ve interviewed many world leaders, presidents to convicts, and no one has been more sensitive or touchy than Elon Musk.”

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Media Business

Townsquare Media Reports 1.9% Revenue Drop in 2023

“Despite the lack of tailwinds at our back in 2023, I am very pleased with how the Townsquare team navigated the progressively challenging economic landscape.”

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Townsquare Media has released its financial results for the 2023 fiscal year, and the company saw a slight drop in total revenue for the year.

In total, the company had its second-highest revenue year ever, bringing in $454.2 million in total revenue. However, that figure represents a 1.9% decrease in year-over-year results. That number drops to less than 1% when political advertising is excluded.

Like many other radio companies, Townsquare saw growth in its digital revenue in 2023, with a 7% increase reported.

“Despite the lack of tailwinds at our back in 2023, I am very pleased with how the Townsquare team navigated the progressively challenging economic landscape. We outperformed competitors and gained market share due to our local focus and our digital platform,” said CEO Bill Wilson.

“I believe that our performance over the past several years has demonstrated the efficacy of our Digital First Local Media strategy, and validated our focus on local markets outside of the Top 50 U.S. cities, reinvigorating my confidence in our business model and our path moving forward.”

Additionally, the company announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1975 per share.

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