Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a weekday podcast that originated as an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories of the day, with commentary by Olbermann and interviews of guests. At the start of Countdown, Olbermann told television columnist Lisa de Moraes:
Our charge for the immediate future is to stay out of the way of the news. ... News is the news. We will not be screwing around with it. ... As times improve and the war [in Iraq] ends we will begin to introduce more and more elements familiar to my style.
The show was known for Olbermann's fast-paced rhetoric, historical and pop culture references, and liberal commentary. Olbermann melded news stories, both serious and light, with commentary, much of it critical of Republicans and conservative politics. The show has been the source of controversy owing to these criticisms, as well as the host's ongoing commentary against Fox News and his feud with its leading primetime personality Bill O'Reilly.