Keith Olbermann Appears on the ‘Late Show,’ Tells David Letterman Why He Left MSNBC

Former MSNBC “Countdown” host (and soon to be Current TV “Countdown” host) Keith Olbermann appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” last night, his first TV appearance since leaving the NBC Universal-owned cable channel.

While Olbermann has hardly been silent since leaving the network (he has been active on Twitter and on his website, FOKNewsChannel.com) he spoke out for the first time about why he left MSNBC:

At some point in the last few years that I have been doing the news in the way that I do, it has occurred to me that the best place to continue doing the news in that way would be to do it at a place that is just in the news business and nothing else. It doesn’t also own an amusement park in Orlando, it doesn’t have outdoor advertising, or beet plantations in the Azures.

As for his use of the name “Countdown”:

“We just sorta did it. We will hear from them if they aren’t happy with it.”

As TVNewser noted at the time, NBC never trademarked the name “Countdown,” and it is generic enough that they may not have been able to.

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