• February 25, 2003

MSNBC jettisoned Phil Donahue’s return to the talk-show circuit Tuesday after a little more than six months and at least one in-flight retooling. “We’re proud of the program and we’re disappointed that the show was not able to attract the viewership we had hoped for and expected,” said MSNBC President Erik Sorenson in a prepared statement.Donahue, whose daytime talk show defined the genre in the 1970s and 1980s, came back to TV after six years away with the MSNBC show that ran 8-9 p.m. weeknights. MSNBC thought Donahue might be able to boost the cable network’s fortunes against its higher-rated competitors, CNN and Fox News Channel. Soon after the July 15, 2002, debut, it became apparent that the Donahue show wasn’t going to give MSNBC the hike the network envisioned. In an attempt to boost the flagging show, MSNBC moved to a studio at 30 Rockefeller Center and gave it a live studio audience beginning with the Nov. 11 show. But that didn’t do much to bring its ratings up. The last live show was Monday night, featuring comedienne and former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell discussing her stand on Iraq and other matters. Tuesday’s guest was supposed to be rock ‘n’ roller Ted Nugent but instead the network will run repeats for the rest of the week. Next week, Countdown: Iraq will be expanded to two hours to fill the time slot formerly occupied by Donahue. MSNBC’s new programming schedule, which will include a talk show hosted by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, hasn’t yet been finalized and it wasn’t clear whether Ventura’s show would replace Donahue’s time slot .