Keith Olbermann is not a name to be overlooked in the world of news, sports and political commentary. The writer and commentator has worked with several sports media outlets where he showed great skill and stood out among his peers. He worked with CNN as a sports correspondent in the 80s and now works for ESPN.
He also worked with the current television network from 2011 until 2012 as press chief and host. Olbermann’s career has been rich with stories of rises, falls, controversies and growths. It will be very interesting to learn more about the sports personality.
Keith Olbermann Bio
He was born on January 27, 1959 in New York City to his parents; Marie Katherine, her mother and Theodore Olbermann, her father. He grew up alongside his younger sister and parents in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester. Keith, who was a huge baseball fan, started writing about baseball card collecting at an early age. He attended Hackley School in Tarrytown.
In school, he began his broadcasting career working as a play-by-play announcer for WHTR. Keith graduated from school in 1975 and went on to study at Cornell University. At Cornel, he was the sports director of WVBR, a commercial radio station in Ithaca.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in communications, he began his professional career at UPI and the RKO radio network. Olberman then joined CNN in 1981. He covered many sporting events, including the 1980 Winter Olympics. He worked for WCVB-TV as a sports anchor for a short time, then moved to Los Angeles to work at KTLA and KCBS. Keith has won 11 Golden Mike Awards for his work in LA and was also named Best Sportscaster by Associated Press in California.
He started working at ESPN SportsCenter in 1992 and left the position in 1997. Previously, he also worked at ESPN2 for a year. After a remarkable experience at the Sportscenter, Olbermann co-wrote a book with Dan Patrick with whom he worked on the program. The book titled “The Big Show” details their experiences at Sportscenter.
He was sentenced to a two-week suspension in 1997 for making an unauthorized appearance at Comedy Central. The Daily Show. This caused a rift between the sports broadcaster and ESPN, which resulted in his exit from the organization. He hosted The Big Show with Keith Olbermann which aired on MSNBC. The talented commentator joined Fox Sports Net in 1999 and anchored his weekday sports news show, National Sports Representative
He worked as a CNN correspondent for News Night from 2001 to 2003. Subsequently, he created and hosted his own show Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which debuted on MSNBC in March 2003. He had extended his contract for the series to four years in February 2007 and, in 2008, he had signed a four-year contract extension with MSNBC.
However, in 2011, MSNBC terminated its contract with Olberman. This is after Olbermann’s long rivalry with political show host Bill O’Reilly, which stemmed from the latter’s relentless coverage of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the latter. Olberman recently commented on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
His net worth
As a sports and political commentator, Keith Olbermann has earned a lot during his dynamic career. He has an estimated net worth of $35 million, which is what he owes his many media stints for. The media personality earned up to $2 million in salary during his time at MSNBC.
This was to be part of his contract with the company which was extended to four years at the rate of $30 million in 2008. Apart from MSBNC, he makes a lot of profit from his shows which have gained momentum over the years.
Personal life – Is he married and who is the wife?
It may be his industry or other factors we don’t know, but Olbermann isn’t married to anyone. Nevertheless, the sports commentator has his own love stories.
Keith used to be in a relationship with journalist Katy Tur. Tur anchored at The Weather Channel’s Vortex2 team. The two began dating in 2006 when Olberman was with MSNBC. However, in 2009 they broke up. Tur had subsequently received criticism for allegedly sleeping with Keith to get a job at MSNBC.
Olbermann has also collaborated with American basketball player Rebecca Lob, television personality Laura Ingraham and others.
