Cenk Uygur Joins Keith Olbermann Current TV

The outspoken radio personality who severed his relationship with MSNBC earlier this year, will host a 7 p.m. show on the network beginning later this year.

8:00 AM PDT 9/20/2011 by Marisa Guthrie

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NEW YORK - Cenk Uygur, the outspoken radio host who had a brief fill-in stint with MSNBC, will host his own show on Current TV beginning later this year.

The announcement came Tuesday from Current co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. Uygur was among the interim hosts for MSNBC's 6 p.m. hour. But left the network over what he characterized as management interference and after MSNBC executives informed him that he would not inherit the 6 p.m. slot on a permanent basis. The network instead put Al Sharpton in at 6 p.m.

At Current, Uygur will host a nightly show at 7 p.m. that executives are describing as a "progressive and topical show about politics and pop culture."

It is the first programming announcement from Current since the network hired former CNN executive David Bohrman to lead Current's continued transformation into a destination for topical news discussion that began last June with the premiere of Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

In a statement, Gore said that Uygur "has a strong grasp of what audiences seek: context and insight about the news and complex issues that affect lives, unfettered by corporate influences. He has a unique and compelling way of boiling it down for his viewers."