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MSNBC Re-signs 'Liberal Hero' Keith Olbermann

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Keith Olbermann will continue to be a thorn in Bill O'Reilly's side for at least four more years.

NBC News announced Thursday it had agreed to a "second term" with the MSNBC "Countdown" host, whose contract was due to expire next month. The extension will take him into 2011.

Besides feuding with Fox News Channel's O'Reilly, Olbermann has become a liberal hero. He has seen his ratings increase since launching a series of anti-President Bush commentaries late last summer.

His prime-time program averaged 715,000 viewers in January, according to Nielsen Media Research. While his audience is often less than a third of O'Reilly's in the same time slot, Olbermann's viewership is up 85 percent over January 2006.

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  Olbermann will also contribute occasional essays to "NBC Nightly News" and there will be two prime-time "Countdown" specials a year on NBC, a division of NBC Universal, said NBC News President Steve Capus.

"I've been overwhelmed by the support for this newscast, both inside NBC, and among our remarkable viewers," Olbermann said.

© 2007 Associated Press.

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