Keith Olbermann ( born January 27 , 1959 ) is a progressive male television talk show host on the cable channel MSNBC , where he is the host of the show Countdown with Keith Olbermann . Keith Theodore Olbermann ( Ë oÊ lbÉ rmÉ n ; born January 27 , 1959 ) is an American political commentator and writer . A former sportscaster and news anchor , Olbermann hosted Countdown with Keith Olbermann , an hour-long nightly commentary program on MSNBC for almost eight years .