Keith Olbermann and Glenn Beck, the firebrands of right- and left-wing talk, are a lot richer now than they were a year ago. But they're also less relevant.
With Olbermann moving to Current TV and Beck leaving Fox for a subscription internet service, both have fallen out of the national conversation. The power of broadcast and cable has, in this case, trumped the power of their personal brands.
Olbermann “is not on my radar anymore,” said Alissa Quart, a columnist for the Columbia Journalism Review and a senior editor at The Atavist, referring to the bombastic host who commands an audience on Current TV that's less than a third the size of his MSNBC viewership.
“When you stop broadcasting or narrow it to your avid followers, they are the only people you’re speaking to. You’re out of the public consciousness,” said David Campanelli, national TV analyst for Horizon Media.
Earlier this year both politically outspoken hosts were forced out of high-profile cable news network gigs.
And each pursued lucrative new ventures on fledgling platforms based on their personal brands.
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They joined other popular media personalities like Howard Stern and Conan O'Brien who have lost relevance on smaller platforms.
It was less than a year ago that Olbermann served a tentpole role for MSNBC, a network rising in the ratings. And "The Glenn Beck Show" was one of the most-watched shows on the most popular cable news channels, Fox News.
In February, Olbermann moved his "Countdown" to fledgling Current TV and assumed the role of chief news officer (reportedly netting a fat salary and shares in the company).
His highest ratings were in his first week, when he drew an average of 354,000 viewers (131,000 of which came in the key adults 25-54 demo). Since then, his ratings have fluctuated, rarely topping that 300,000 mark.
By comparison, he averaged more than 1 million viewers over his last couple of years at MSNBC.
Beck, meanwhile, launched a subscription-based, internet-only network.
He managed to lure a subscriber following of 230,000 to his GBTV channel in time for its launch, but that number is tiny compared to the more than 2 million viewers he averaged when he broke out on Fox in 2009.
When Olbermann abruptly announced he was leaving MSNBC on-air in January, it was not the first time acrimony enveloped his departure. He has infuriated bosses at every stop -- both because he is notoriously difficult to work with and because his brilliance makes it difficult to end the relationship.
Yet every other time Olbermann has departed, he upped his salary and maintained a great deal of influence. When he left ESPN, he got a fat deal from Fox. When Fox fired him, he eventually settled in at MSNBC.
He may have landed on his feet again, but this time it was at the far reaches of the cable dial.
