Keith Olbermann will return to ESPN after a 16-year absence from the network to host a nightly one-hour talk show on ESPN2, the New York Times reports.
The were reports last week that Olbermann was in talks with ESPN about a return, and The Times says the network is set to make the announcement on Wednesday.
According to The Times, Olbermann will be able to “discuss matters other than sports, including pop culture and current events, but not politics, the two-year pact specifies.”
The show is believed to be ESPN’s answer to FOX Sports 1 launching a show on its new network that will be hosted by Regis Philbin.
Olbermann rose to prominence hosting “SportsCenter” along with Dan Patrick during the ’90s at ESPN. He trashed ESPN in an interview with Craig Kilborn on Comedy Central, left the network in 1997, and started working for FOX Sports the next year. He left FOX Sports after having problems there and was the longtime host of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC. Now he is getting back into sports.
Olbermann has a history of creating problems wherever he works, but ESPN still believes he is a talented broadcaster who draws an audience.
