Okay. Wow. That was shocking.

But now that we've had a few minutes to contemplate a MSNBC world without Olbermann let's indulge in some speculation.

Why now?

Bill Carter reports at the NYT that Olbermann "came to an agreement with NBC’s corporate management late this week to settle his contract and step down."

"Late this week" suggests yesterday or today.

If that's the case there has to be some buyout arrangement because Olbermann signed a four year contract back in 2008. Update: Bill Carter just told Anderson Cooper that part of whatever deal they struck will likely keep Olbermann off TV "maybe not for two years" but for an extended period of time.

So again: Why now?

It likely has everything to do with this:

Comcast officially takes over on Monday.

Today is also Jeff Zucker's last day; earlier today he sent out his farewell memo to staff.

There has been speculation dating back to Olberman's suspension in October that the powers that be might not be that comfortable with the amount of unquestioned clout Olbermann wielded at MSNBC (even with somewhat diminished ratings it was a lot).

Combined with his legendary ego and unreliable temperament (anyone who follows him on Twitter can attest to both), which got notably more public after the suspension, it's quite possible Olbermann's strong ratings looked slightly less appealing. Especially with Rachel Maddow and now Lawrence O'Donnell in the wings, both of whom make strong showings in the ratings.

Next question: Is Comcast cleaning house? And if so, will Olbermann enabler MSNBC president Phil Griffin be next? And if so who will replace him?

Update: NBC execs tell the NYT Bill Carter that "the move had nothing to do with the impending takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast." No. All just a big coincidence.