Keith Olbermann Abruptly Leaves MSNBC

MSNBC and Keith Olbermann who hosted the show 'Countdown' have suddenly parted company, with Olbermann leaving the network with immediate effect.

In a statement, the network said; "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

As a result of Olbermann's departure from the network, MSNBC has had to shuffle its schedule at short notice.

Starting Monday, January 24, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell will move to 8 p.m. ET/PT and The Ed Show, hosted by Ed Schultz, will move to 10 p.m. ET/PT on MSNBC. The announcement was made today by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC. The Rachel Maddow Show will continue to air live at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Since its debut in October 2010 at 10 p.m.ET, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell has been a strong addition to the MSNBC primetime line-up. In the forth quarter of 2010, the show’s first full quarter on the air, The Last Word ranked #2 among A25-54 and total viewers beating CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 in all key demos and had MSNBC’s strongest A25-54 performance in the 10 p.m. time period since the first quarter of 2009.

The Ed Show launched in April 2009 at 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC. 2010 marked the best total viewer performance in the 6 p.m. ET hour ever for MSNBC, with The Ed Show ranked #2 in both A25-54 and total viewers for the full year. The Ed Show averaged 643,000 viewers in 2010 and 158,000 among viewers 25-54, while CNN’s Situation Room averaged 542,000 total viewers and 149,000 in the 25-54 demographic. Ed was up 8% in A25-54 and up 20% in total viewers, while CNN has dropped –28% in A25-54 and –29% in total viewers.

Also starting Monday, Cenk Uygur, MSNBC contributor and host of the popular web show The Young Turks, will be filling in as host of the 6 p.m ET hour.