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Don't like this kind of stuff. >> that's true. and it's a much more corporate button down culture. keith olberman is a very shrewd guy. i don't think nbc executives tried to talk him out of it, he saw the handwriting on the wall and he may have decided that the kind of fierce independence that he values was not going to be possible under the new regime. so it may not be an accident that this happens now, a week before comcast takes over. this isn't the first time, anderson, that olberman has left msnbc. he left in 1998. he criticized his bosses. he has a history of doing that. at the same time...

It does seem that nbc and msnbc as steve and phil might have come to the conclusion that their new bosses weren't going to be as tolerant of keith's temperament. but the reality is, it's probably more than likely that keith olberman himself precipitated this arrangement. keith has signaled for some time he's been ready to move on and the closure of this deal may just have a precipitating event. from what we understand, anderson, no direct connection between the approval of the merger between comcast and nbc and the release of keith olberman from his contract. >> we got to take a quick break. b...

Quiet about it. we'll learn a little bit more about his particular view. he didn't state it tonight, but i would be surprised if he doesn't. he's a pretty outspoken guy. >> david schuster, anything from you? >> no, i think bill has it right. keith on his own will make it perfectly clear what happened. in a venue that he feels is appropriate. but again, we should be careful. i don't think this is the end of keith olberman by any means. he's an incredible talent and an incredible guy to work with. he's going to be valuable wherever he goes next. it may be a period of years or whatever it is that...

Things his way. i haven't always agreed with everything he's done. he hasn't always agreed with everything i've done. but he is a brilliant man and writer and i found him to be a great guy to work for. it's going to be a certain loss for everybody who is involved in primetime at msnbc. >> david, i guess this is sort of my job in this case, but was he well liked within nbc? i've heard plenty of -- what was your impression? >> well, yeah, a fair question. i think the people he worked with had a lot of respect for him. the people on his show, the director, the technical people, the people that of...

Clearly there's going to be a change in some way in management. i don't think comcast is going to come in and change msnbc after they established the brand. they're the left wing alternative to fox news and it's been their brand. let's face it, rachel maddow has become the star of the network and i just think keith is a different personality. would he have run afoul at comcast? i think that was inevitable. >> david schuster, what do you make of this? >> well, anderson, first of all thanks for having me. i'm shocked and let me say from the outset that i'm a huge fan of keith's work. he was alwa...