In 2002,

Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is an American media personality, writer, film producer and the creator and host of ''The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the first talk show forma ...

returned to television to host a talk show called ''Donahue'' on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

Cancellation

Its debut Nielsen ratings were strong, but its audience evaporated over the following months. In late August 2002, it received one of the lowest possible ratings (0.1), less than MSNBC's average for the day of 0.2. On February 25, 2003, MSNBC cancelled the show, citing low viewership. However, that month, ''Donahue'' averaged 446,000 viewers and became the highest rated show on the network. Other MSNBC shows, including ''

Hardball with Chris Matthews ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'' was an American television talk show that was hosted by Chris Matthews. The program premiered on the now-defunct America's Talking network in 1994 (as ''Politics with Chris Matthews'') before moving on CNBC, and t ...

'' and '' Scarborough Country'', averaged lower ratings in 2005. Later, the website AllYourTV.com reported receiving a copy of an internal NBC memo mentioning that Donahue had to be fired because he would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war".

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...

, arguably the network's most prominent commentator since Donahue, told ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' in 2007 that the cancellation had as much to do with the show's production cost as it did with political orientation.

Legacy

In September 2002, Oprah Winfrey praised Donahue saying "the bottom line is we need you, Phil, because we need to be challenged by the voice of dissent".Oprah Talks to Phil Donahue
(page 10), oprah.com, from the September 2002 issue of ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

''. Retrieved July 25, 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue (2002 talk show) 2000s American television talk shows 2002 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings English-language television shows MSNBC original programming