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MSNBC Cancels the Phil Donahue Talk Show [1]

['Bill Carter']

Date: 2003-02-26

MSNBC canceled Phil Donahue's nightly show yesterday, putting an end to its high-profile effort to challenge CNN and the Fox News Channel in the area of prime-time politically oriented talk.

The move had been expected for many months, as Mr. Donahue never generated the kind of ratings surge that MSNBC had expected. MSNBC plans to extend its program ''Countdown: Iraq'' with Lester Holt, now on at 7 p.m., to two hours to fill the time slot temporarily.

MSNBC has already hired Jesse Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota, to be host of a prime-time talk show, and is in discussions with Sam Donaldson, the longtime ABC News correspondent, to anchor a nightly prime-time newscast. No starting date for either of those programs has been announced, and the channel has said that it will wait to see what news takes place related to a possible war in Iraq before it makes permanent changes to its prime-time schedule.

Mr. Donahue declined to comment yesterday, but he was expected to release a statement today.

Mr. Donahue was brought to MSNBC with much fanfare last July, after being off television since the end of his syndicated talk show in 1996. But ratings for the show disappointed the channel from the start.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/business/msnbc-cancels-the-phil-donahue-talk-show.html

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