The LA Times' Paul Brownfield says MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a show that "has less to do with the host than the format, which is all about ranking things and listing things, prioritizing information in the way we've become acclimated to consume it." Olbermann has hosted the show since 2003, and "credited a producer named Dennis Murray with burnishing the "Countdown" structure. On that note, a TVNewser emailer writes "Kudos to Olbermann for acknowledging Dennis Murray, who is a great TV Executive Producer. If CNN wants ratings, they should scoop up Murray."

(The term "Countdown" had been used in a previous incarnation of an MSNBC primetime show. Leading up to the invasion of Iraq, the network aired "Countdown Iraq," hosted by then-MSNBC anchor Lester Holt.)

Back to the Times article, Olbermann talks about the "conversation" he had "with the large people at CBS before they went and decided to go to Katie Couric."