On SportsFan Radio's "Just A Minute With Keith
Olbermann" this morning, Olbermann cited recent figures from
the Hollywood Reporter showing that ratings for ESPN's
"SportsCenter" had dropped, which were, in part, attributed
to Olbermann's departure from the sports network last year.
Olbermann: "Oh man. Look, I'm flattered, but let's be real.
Eleven percent of the audience leaves because I did? I don't
think so. One quarter of one percent? Maybe my ego listens
to that argument. But you think maybe the fact that there
are now five cable networks doing at least one hour of
sports news nightly might have more to do with it?"
Olbermann went on to address "something that's been
bothering me for a while. I left ESPN a year ago and both
sides tried to do it nicely ... and we didn't. I'm not
backing off from some of my criticisms but I am very sorry,
and I am publicly apologizing to my former colleagues and
employers there that it all got messy. For me, a lot of it
was simply this: I had a lot of fun on that show and a big
part of me didn't want to go, and I wasn't mature enough to
deal with it any other way" (SportsFan Radio, 6/11).
