Oh goodness. In their haste of firing Keith Olbermann and hiring Eliot Spitzer, the fine folks at Current TV put out a press release which included a fake Twitter handle for Spitzer. In announcing “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer” the release lets viewers know they can “follow Spitzer on Twitter (@ESpitzer).” Unfortunately, that’s not a real account for the former New York governor, as I’m sure he wouldn’t be writing things like:

or

The real Eliot Spitzer does not have a real Twitter account. A Current TV spokesperson tells TVNewser, “Our apologies that this was incorrect in the release.”

It was just over a year ago that former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann announced he was joining Current TV, and today, that relationship officially came to an end. According to the New York Times‘ Brian Stelter, Olbermann is out at Current, and will be replaced by former CNN host and New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer will take over the 8 PM slot starting  tonight.

Update: Current CEO Joel Hyatt and co-founder Al Gore released a statement about the move.

Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.

The full letter is after the jump.

Update 2: Olbermann has released his own statement via Twitter, saying that he plans to file suit against the network.

I’d like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring @AlGore and @JoelHyatt to resolve our issues internally,while I’ve been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract. It goes almost without saying that the claims against me in Current’s statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently.

Olbermann’s full statement is after the jump.

Olbermann famously announced that he would be leaving his MSNBC program on a Friday night last January. He inked a deal with Current soon thereafter.

Olbermann was given an equity stake in Current as part of his deal. It is not yet clear whether he will retain that stake, or whether Current will buy him out.

In an interview with mediabistro.com earlier this month, Hyatt hinted that the network would be adding more former public officials to Current’s lineup, such as Spitzer:

We’re going to look for practitioners of public policy, like Jennifer Granholm. We’ll soon be naming others in that category, people who have actually done the hard work of public service and who are very committed to it, who understand it from the inside. They know spin when they hear it; they know BS when they hear it; they can stand up to it because they’ve been there and done that.

The announcement of Spitzer’s new show is also after the jump.

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Primary season continues as voters head to the polls in Florida today, and the broadcast and cable networks have scheduled special coverage for the election results tonight.

CNN’s coverage, hosted by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King, kicks off at 7pmET. Cooper will host a live “AC360″ at 10pmET, followed by a live “Piers Morgan Tonight” at midnight.

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow will anchor coverage beginning at 6pmET. She will be joined by Chris Matthews, who will host “Hardball” from Miami today, Al Sharpton, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O’Donnell.

Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier are at the anchor desk on Fox News from 8-11pmET. Sean Hannity takes over at 11pm, followed by a live “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” at midnight.

The broadcast networks will offer special reports as the results come in. Brian Williams will anchor on NBC. Scott Pelley will anchor from Florida on CBS. On ABC, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor special reports together. On PBS, “NewsHour” will broadcast a live primary special at 11pmET, co-anchored by Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff.

Elsewhere on cable:

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With Keith Olbermann suffering from bronchitis, a familiar face will be hosting “Countdown” on CurrentTV this week: former CNN anchor Eliot Spitzer.

Spitzer will co-host “Countdown” with Bill Press tonight and tomorrow night, during the network’s Florida primary coverage. (CurrentTV will have a regularly-scheduled primetime lineup tomorrow, with David Shuster reporting live from Florida at the top of every hour.) Although Spitzer has appeared on Current frequently over the past several months, this will be his first hosting gig since he signed off from CNN in July.

It’s possible CurrentTV is testing the waters with the former Governor. Spitzer’s appearances as an MSNBC guest host in 2010 were a precursor to his hire as 8pmET co-host on CNN.

Eliot Spitzer was a part of Dylan Ratigan‘s MegaPanel on his MSNBC show this afternoon. This was Spitzer’s first second appearance on the cable news channel (he was on “Up with Chris Hayes” Oct. 29) since his own CNN show was canceled in July. Ratigan:

Our specialist today is former New York Governor and Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, who, by the way, was our first guest many years ago and it’s a pleasure to welcome you back.

Before he took the hosting job at CNN, Spitzer often filled in on MSNBC.

> Update: Spitzer was also on with David Asman on Fox Business Network Monday night. Of his time at CNN, Spitzer told Asman, “I had a great time, that nine months we were on the air. I loved every moment of it and I look back with great joy and thank CNN for giving me the opportunity.”

It was an inauspicious debut for CNN’s primetime news show, “Anderson Cooper 360″ in its new 8pmET timeslot. Cooper averaged 157K in the A25-54 demo and 502K in Total Viewers last week. By comparison the previous show, “In the Arena” hosted by Eliot Spitzer averaged 184K and 599K during Q2 in the time period, which, over the course of the quarter also included CNN’s New Hampshire GOP debate, two Presidential addresses and two special editions of Piers Morgan. It is the dead of summer, but considering the busy news week on Wall Street and in politics, it could be a rough climb for AC360 at 8pm — cable news’s most-watched hour.

Former New York Governor and CNN host Eliot Spitzer will make his return to cable news on Current TV’s “Countdown” this evening. Spitzer will speak to Keith Olbermann about the internal Murdoch hacking investigation being run by Joel Klein, who Spitzer knows from his time as Governor.

CNN saw slight gains across the board in July — in total day viewers, the network saw a +9% increase in total viewers and a +11% increase in the A25-54 demographic when compared to July 2010. Primetime gains were larger, with CNN seeing a +19% increase in total viewers and a +39% increase in the demographic.

The ratings for July, 2011:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 633K Total Viewers / 203K A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 446K Total Viewers / 142K A25-54

Among the strongest performing shows for CNN were “Anderson Cooper 360″ and “John King USA.” Cooper’s 10 p.m. show increased viewership by +32% in total viewers and by +56% in the demographic compared to the same month last year. John King’s 7 p.m. program saw gains of +18% in total viewers and +25% in the demographic. “Piers Morgan Tonight” was also up, by +9% in total viewers and +37% in the demographic.

Even “In the Arena,” which lost host Eliot Spitzer this month, was able to improve ratings in its timeslot compared to 2010 in both total and demo viewers.

“American Morning” was the only CNN show to tally losses in both categories, losing -24% in total viewers and -26% in the demographic. The only other show with a loss was the 5 p.m. hour of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” which posted a loss of -5% in the demographic despite being up +4% in total viewers.

Read CNN’s full press release after the jump.

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Last night was Eliot Spitzer‘s last night as host of “In the Arena” on CNN, as the network prepares to launch its new lineup in August. At one point, as he tossed to a commercial, Spitzer seemed to take a shot at cable news: “Up next, leadership in Washington. It’s as rare as intelligent conversation from cable television.”

Later, he ended his run at CNN by quoting Theodore Roosevelt, the quote that gave the program its name:

Roosevelt’s full quote is after the jump.

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Former Fox News Channel anchor and — as of earlier this afternoon — soon-to-be-former “In the Arena” contributor E.D. Hill is filling in for 3 p.m. anchor Brooke Baldwin on CNN today.

Hill, who left Fox News Channel in November 2008, has been seen regularly on CNN since February, when Eliot Spitzer‘s 8 p.m. timeslot was rebranded as an ensemble show following Kathleen Parker‘s departure. She has also guest-hosted “The View” several times.