Maddow: More reactions…

Portfolio’s Jeff Bercovici weighs in…

This underscores the question of whether MSNBC is taking a foolish risk in over-committing itself to a single point of view. Without a doubt, Olbermann and his spirited Bush-bashing have been the primary engine of the network’s ratings growth (including a primetime audience increase of more than 50 percent in the year’s first half), so doubling down might seem like the obvious thing to do. But this dance-with-the-one-that-brung-ya mentality could end up looking short-sighted after Nov. 4. Does MSNBC really want to be in the position of covering an Obama Administration with no one more neutral than Chris “thrill up my leg” Matthews in its evening lineup? (As for John McCain, he seems to think accusing NBC News of being biased against him is a useful way of rallying his supporters.)

Of course, Fox News managed the transition from opposition to cheerleader in 2000, when Bush took office. But Fox has shown a steadier hand than MSNBC, which has long seemed over-eager to trim its editorial sails at the slightest shift of the breezes.

There is one clear benefit to giving Maddow a prominent slot, however: It should help to insulate MSNBC next time charges of sexism crop up.

As does Jossip…

Yesterday afternoon, it was Olbermann who made the official announcement about Maddow. Bizarre?

Yes. Especially since he called it a “fully authorized leak” in his DailyKos posting. You’d be right in thinking these announcements usually break by a spokesman, in a newspaper’s business section perhaps, and not on a liberal blog that talent writes for.

But it makes sense, given Olbermann’s continued lobbying for Maddow. When he jokes, “She wanted to [call the show] Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” he’s barely humoring himself. And in his blog post, he all but takes credit for her getting her own hour.

Worth noting, too: Olbermann and Maddow share agents. He introduced her to his.

Incidentally, this also means Olbermann is taking credit for ousting Dan Abrams from his 9pm hour. It’s no secret Olbermann hates Abrams, and vice versa. When Abrams was general manager of MSNBC, before returning to his primetime show, the two barely spoke, and Olbermann was confident enough in his chair to privately and, in barely blind form in public, bash Abrams.

Meahwhile, the LA Times’ Matea Gold writes about the story…

Maddow, who will continue hosting her daily radio program on Air America, said she plans to make her new television program more than a political forum.

“We’ll do weird news from far away,” she told Olbermann. “I have weird obsessions that will probably make it onto the show. I’m obsessed with the Iraqi national soccer team. I think there’s a lot of domestic crime committed by naked men that needs a lot extra coverage.”

“We still haven’t defined the role of America in a post-Soviet world, let alone a post-9/11 world,” she added more seriously. “There’s so much going on between the election and the goofy that is neither. And I think after the election in part it’s going to be a little bit of a relief to have the whole wide world to cover, rather than just the election to chew on.”