Why doesn't MSNBC Give Phil Donahue a New Show?

[Firstzar]

At the time of its cancellation in late February, 2003, his previous program on the network was MSNBC's highest-rated show! But, of course, this was at the height of the freedom-fried, liberty-dressed insanity that was the lead-up to the Iraq War, and, naturally, the suits couldn't have have some lefty lunatic ranting and raving, you know, the truth on national TV!

I say, give the Old Lion the time slot currently occupied by the repeat of Countdown. I don't give a SHIT that he's in his mid-70s: Nobody kicks ass like Phillip John Donahue!

[RadicalGeek]

1. Either Him

or Jim Hightower.
How about a show like TV Nation?

[Graybeard]

2. Welcome to DU! Yes, I'd like to see Donahue back.

His very popular show was with a live audience much like Oprah. He ventured up into the audience to get their opinions on the issues. That would be a welcome change of pace on MSNBC which presents one talking head show after another, all looking like clones of each other.

Whether this would work in prime-time is iffy. Even Oprah was on only in the daytime. How about replacing Mrs. Greenspan?

[Echo In Light]

3. K&R! Phil is a genuine liberal voice, canned by NBC for obvious reasons

[zbdent]

9. you mean GE (a military contractor) owned NBC?

boy, are you a moonbatty conspiracy theorist ...

:sarcasm:

[Echo In Light]

10. Yep...the very same defense contractor that realizes the potential financial gain of airing KO/RM!

;)

[Dinger]

4. Yes, Yes, Yes! K & R!!

Great idea!

[no_hypocrisy]

5. I'd like to see Phil come back. Ironically he left when Oprah took the 4pm slot on the networks.

[Firstzar]

12. I'd love to see him interviewing Cheney!

Phil would fucking eviscerate that goddamn traitor!

[no_hypocrisy]

14. But ever so nicely with warmth and intelligence.

Phil, what are you waiting for!!! We need you!

[OHdem10]

6. He is a Liberal. -- just that simple.

[KharmaTrain]

7. Phil's Too Old...

Sorry to say it, I have enjoyed his work over the years, but the man is 70 and doing a daily show is a grind physically and emotionally. I've heard him interviewed within the past year saying he is enjoying his life...working for his pet causes and not having to deal with the grind of the corporate media. He trailblazed the interview format but television is no longer interested in his long-form concepts...personally, I'd like to see younger faces on MSNBC...reach out to younger viewers who really have few voices to look toward.

[Firstzar]

16. Are you KIDDING ME???

He'd accept a new platform for speaking Truth to Wingnut in a nanosecond!!!

[Berry Cool]

8. People always seem to forget one reason Phil's show was canceled,

which was confirmed once by Keith Olbermann on Daily Kos: it was expensive to produce because of that live studio audience. In order to justify its existence, it had to be more than just "MSNBC's highest-rated show" (which didn't take much back in 2003). It had to have much higher ratings than it did. But it couldn't get high enough ratings to justify the expense.

That, AND the network's mistaken notion that it was obligated to wave the flag during the buildup to the Iraq War, which it knew Phil would never get on board with, effectively killed the show.

Enter KO, who at the time was proposing just a news program, not an opinion program in which he would rail against the war buildup--just a news program. No live audience. It took years for even his show to catch on. But by its second year it already had a flavor of looking at things differently from the Bush Administration, which was why I began watching it as the 2004 election approached. I wanted some form of national news other than the pablum/wingnut propaganda available on other shows, and stayed for the general intelligence, humor, etc. When KO was brave enough to question the election results in Ohio, I was hooked. And before long he was also saying what needed to be said about Terri Schiavo, and Katrina, and so on.

One thing KO has always had that Phil Donahue sadly lacks is that he never takes himself too seriously. Phil can get so hopped up about something that he can forget that sometimes it's easier to make the point with humor than with lecturing and preaching. KO, on the other hand, can watch his "Special Comments" being made fun of on SNL and laugh. It makes him a more flexible personality to deal with (and that's saying a lot considering his past reputation).

I think we are unlikely to see his 10 PM rerun replaced with anything else soon. It's getting good ratings from West Coasters and other people who have the earlier part of their evenings occupied by other matters. MSNBC is not going to replace it until they have a very good feeling they can do it with something that will get better ratings.

[Echo In Light]

11. Not according to FAIR

MSNBC's Double Standard on Free Speech
"Turd World" is OK-- "anti-war, anti-Bush" is not:
http://www.fair.org/activism/savage-donahue.html

[Echo In Light]

13. Quotes:

But this enthusiasm (on the part of GE/NBC) for a "wide range of strong, opinionated voices" rings hollow in the wake of MSNBC's firing of host Phil Donahue. (FAIR's founder, Jeff Cohen, worked as a senior producer for Donahue.) His show was cancelled despite having the best ratings on the network; this occurred, according to published reports, after a study commissioned by NBC described Donahue as "a tired, left-wing liberal out of touch with the current marketplace" who would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war" (All Your TV, 2/25/03). "He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives," the report noted, warning that the Donahue show could be "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."

Network insiders echoed these qualms. In an email leaked to the website All Your TV (3/5/03), one executive suggested that MSNBC could take advantage of the "anticipated larger audience who will tune in during a time of war" to "reinvent itself" and "cross-pollinate our programming" by linking pundits to war coverage. "It's unlikely that we can use Phil in this way, particularly given his public stance on the advisability of the war effort," the email said.

All Your TV's Rick Ellis quoted a network source: "I personally like Donahue, but our numbers were telling us that viewers thought he has too combative, and often said things that some respondents considered almost unpatriotic."

"Best ratings on the network," yet is simultaneously "out of touch with the current marketplace."

Uh-huh

[Firstzar]

18. Orwellian mathematics

Youbetcha! :puke:

[Echo In Light]

19. Doesn't quite add up when ya walk it through, does it?

Yet, even though there's admission of ideological intent/motive for canceling him, some still need to cling to the safe 'Business Interests' line of thinking ... same way some act as apologists for the "liberal" media mythology, and insist it's all about dollars, and not strategic, ideological omission/obfuscation/controlling the "message."

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. Good question and I totally agree with you on the caliber of Donahue's "kick ass" capabilities.

[ecstatic]

17. I've wondered that for years. nt