NBC News President Andrew Lack is expected to meet with Keith Olbermann to discuss the outspoken and controversial host's possible return to MSNBC in his old time slot.
Olbermann left the network in a hugely public break-up in January 2011. He and Lack are expected to meet soon as part of the executive's move to revamp MSNBC's sagging prime-time ratings,
Mediaite reports.
The host of MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" from 2003 to 2011 left ESPN2 in July after refusing to stop making commentaries on his sports show.
According to the report, MSNBC's slots at 9 and 10 p.m. are expected to remain with hosts Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, respectively. That leaves the 8 p.m. hour under question.
The hour is taken by Chris Hayes, whose "All In With Chris Hayes" won an Emmy this year but has consistently trailed behind Bill O'Reilly on Fox News since its launch on April Fool's Day last year.
An NBC official denied the report, telling Mediaite that the idea of talks to bring Olbermann back to the cable network is "patently untrue."
Olbermann has made the rounds of some of the largest broadcast media outlets during his career.
In February, he was suspended by ESPN for part of a week after
mixing it up on Twitter over a pediatric cancer benefit to be held at Penn State University. He later apologized, saying his remarks were "stupid and childish."
Olbermann also anchored ESPN's "SportsCenter" from 1992 and 1997, but left in controversial fashion a few months after being suspended for appearing on the Craig Kilborn-hosted "Daily Show" on Comedy Central.
A stint at Fox Sports ended when Olbermann clashed with Rupert Murdoch, the longtime head of the company then known as News Corp.
In 2012, Olbermann was fired from Current TV, the upstart liberal cable channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the founder of Hyatt Legal Services.
The dismissal came just a year into Olbermann's five-year, $50 million contract.
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