"Countdown" alert: Olbermann's NBC debut coming Sunday 26th

Keith Olbermann's contract extension in February called for occasional appearances on parent network NBC. The first comes Sunday, August 22nd.

According to a New York Times brief of Monday, NBC will air a special edition of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on Sunday, August 26 in the "Dateline: NBC" time slot at 7:00 pm Eastern immediately preceding the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia NFL exhibition game. Olbermann will join Bob Costas on NBC's Sunday pregame show when the regular NFL season begins.

" ‘Countdown’ is rocketing right now over at MSNBC — its ratings are going through the roof," said Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News. (In July Mr. Olbermann’s show averaged 721,000 viewers, an increase of 88 percent over last July, according to MSNBC.) Mr. Griffin added, "The world has changed, and I think people have come in line with the smart, focused approach he has on the show."

The story revealed no content or format (as of Wednesday afternoon, there's no mention on the Countdown website). An MSNBC story on Olbermann's contract extension in February said that

... the MSNBC host will contribute occasional "essays" to the "Nightly News with Brian Williams" and host two "Countdown" specials a year on NBC.

As far as I know, Olbermann hasn't appeared on "Nightly News" yet, but on Sunday his potential audience will number in the millions. It'll be interesting to see if KO is as hard-hitting with the broader audience. In any event, pass it on.