Phil Donahue

Phillip John Donahue (b. December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio) is the creator and star of The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, the first tabloid talk show. The show enjoyed a 27-year run on national (U.S.) TV, plus two years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio before ending. Although it ended in 1996, the show briefly reemerged as an MSNBC offering in 2002–2003. Image File history File links Phil_donahue. ... Image File history File links Phil_donahue. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: The Forest City Motto: Progress and Prosperity Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Coordinates: Country United States State Ohio County Cuyahoga Founded 1796 Incorporated 1836 Mayor Frank G. Jackson (D) Area    - City 82. ... Tabloid talk shows are a genre of American television talk-shows that were extremely popular during the late 20th century, ran mostly during the day, and were distributed mostly through syndication. ... Nickname: Gem City Coordinates: Country  State   County United States  Ohio   Montgomery Founded Incorporated April 1, 1796 1805 Mayor Rhine L. McLin Area    - City 146. ... MSNBC, a combination of MSN and NBC, is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States and Canada, and a news Website. ...

His shows have generally focused on issues that often divide liberals and conservatives in the U.S., such as women's reproductive rights, consumer protection (his most frequent guest was Ralph Nader, for whom he campaigned in 2000), civil rights and war protests. He is a noted supporter of the liberal wing of the U.S. Democratic Party. Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... American conservatism is a political mindset within the United States that incorporates many different ideologies under the blanket heading of conservative. ... Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist. ... Presidential election results map. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. ...

Personal history

In 1953, Phil Donahue was a member of the first graduating class of St. Edward High School, an all-boys college prep Catholic high school run by the Brothers of Holy Cross in suburban Lakewood, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A. in 1957. A year later, he married his first wife, Marge Cooney, who he divorced in 1975. He married his second (and present) wife, actress Marlo Thomas, in 1980. St. ... Lakewood is a city located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. ... The University of Notre Dame IPA: is a leading Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located in Notre Dame, Indiana, immediately northeast of South Bend, Indiana, United States. ... Marlo Thomas was born Margaret Julia Thomas on November 21, 1937 (although most sources indicate 1938) and is an American actress, first appearing on the TV series That Girl in the 1960s. ...

The Phil Donahue Show 1970-1996

Donahue began his career in 1957 as a production assistant at TV and AM station KYW in Cleveland. He got a chance to become an announcer one day when the regular announcer failed to show up. After a brief stint as a bank check sorter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he became program director for WABJ radio, Adrian, Michigan, soon after graduating. He moved on to become a stringer for the CBS Evening News and later, an anchor of the morning newscast at WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio, where his interviews with Jimmy Hoffa and Billy Sol Estes were picked up nationally. KYW is the callsign of two broadcast stations in Philadelphia: KYW (AM), broadcasting at 1060 kHz on radio. ... CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963. ... WHIO-TV is a television station in Dayton, OH. Affiliated with the CBS Television Network, it was started on channel 13 in 1949 and moved to channel 7 in 1952. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Billy Sol Estes was a close associate and neighbor of president Lyndon B. Johnson in Texas prior to president John F. Kennedys election. ...

The Dayton-based Donahue hosted Conversation Piece, a phone-in talk show from 1963–1967. There, he interviewed civil rights activists (including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X) and war dissenters. He moved the format to television with The Phil Donahue Show on WLW-D (now WDTN) in Dayton, Ohio in 1967. The show was a success and was nationally syndicated two years later by Avco. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, Ph. ... Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ... WDTN (channel 2) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC network since August 30, 2004. ... Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. ...

Donahue relocated the show's home base to WGN-TV in Chicago in 1974, and the show eventually took off, becoming both a national phenomenon and pioneer. Later, he moved the show to WBBM-TV for its final years based in the Midwest. WBBM-TV, officially branded as CBS2 Chicago, is a United States television station in Chicago, Illinois owned and operated by the Columbia Broadcasting System and present-day CBS. Broadcasting from 630 North McClurg Court in downtown Chicago near The Loop, WBBM-TV transmits from the John Hancock Center. ...

In 1984, Donahue featured breakdancing for the first time on national TV, with the hip hop group UTFO [1]. A breakdancer performing a one-handed freeze (also known as a pike) in the streets of Paris. ... Hip hop music (also referred to as rap or rap music) is a style of popular music which came into existence in roughly the mid 70s but became a large part of modern day pop culture in the late 80s. ... UTFO (which stands for Untouchable Force Organization) was a rap group from the 80s. ...

In 1985, Donahue moved the program's operations to WNBC-TV, following a month-long buildup in which NBC late-night host David Letterman would use portions of his national program counting down the days to Donahue's move with a huge calendar in his studio. WNBC-TV, NBC4 is the flagship TV station of the NBC television network, with studios located in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. ... NBC, (Formerly an acronym for the National Broadcasting Company until 2004), is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American late night talk show host, comedian, television producer, Indy Racing League car owner (Rahal Letterman Racing), and philanthropist. ...

In 1992, Donahue celebrated the 25th anniversary of his local and national program with a special produced at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, in which he was lauded by his talk-show peers. Ironically, in many corners, he was seen as having been bypassed both by Oprah Winfrey, whose own hugely successful national show was based in Donahue's former Chicago home base; and Sally Jessy Raphael, whose own talk show was distributed by Donahue's syndicator, Multimedia. Ed Sullivan. ... Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is a multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in television history [1]. She is also an influential book critic, an Academy Award-nominated actress, and a magazine publisher. ... Sally Jessy Raphaël (born Sally Lowenthal on February 25, 1935 in Easton, Pennsylvania) is an American talk show host and television presenter. ...

Donahue's show finally ended in 1996, culminating what remains the longest continuous run (27 years) of any tabloid talk show in U.S. history. Tabloid talk shows are a genre of American television talk-shows that were extremely popular during the late 20th century, ran mostly during the day, and were distributed mostly through syndication. ...

Donahue on MSNBC

In 2002, Phil Donahue returned to television to host a show called Donahue on MSNBC. Its debut ratings were strong, but its audience evaporated over the following months. In late August of 2002, it got one of the lowest possible Nielsen ratings (0.1), less than MSNBC's average for the day of 0.2. On February 25, 2003, MSNBC canceled the show, citing low viewership. However, that month, Donahue averaged 446,000 viewers and became the highest rated show on the network[2][3]. Other MSNBC shows, including Hardball with Chris Matthews and Scarborough Country, averaged lower ratings in 2005 [4]. Later, the liberal media watchdog group FAIR received a copy of an internal NBC memo that mentioned that Donahue had to be fired because he would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war" [5]. Donahue was a vocal critic of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. He mentioned the internal memo later in an interview on WILL-AM, a public radio station. MSNBC, a combination of MSN and NBC, is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States and Canada, and a news Website. ... When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are generally referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the audience size and composition of television programming. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Scarborough Country is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday - Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It is hosted by former congressman (R - Fla. ... A fair is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. ... Combatants Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom Poland Australia South Korea Romania Spain Portugal Italy others. ... WILL is the callsign of the three public broadcasting stations owned by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and operated by its Division of Broadcasting. ...

Phil Donahue, prank victim

One of the most talked-about incidents in the Donahue show's history came on January 21, 1985, soon after the show's base of production moved to WNBC-TV. Seven members of the audience appeared to faint during the broadcast, which was seen live in New York. Donahue, fearing the fainting was caused by both anxiety at being on TV and an overheated studio, eventually cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show. January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... WNBC-TV, NBC4 is the flagship TV station of the NBC television network, with studios located in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. ...

It turned out the fainting "spell" was cooked up by media hoaxer Alan Abel in what Abel said was a protest against poor-quality TV. Alan Abel (b. ...

Interview with Bill O'Reilly (9/05)

In September of 2005 Donahue was briefly back in public attention after an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor in which he rebuked Bill O'Reilly for his criticism of Cindy Sheehan and his support for the Iraq War. Donahue also said that O'Reilly based his show and his interviewing style on little more than loudness and talking points, and criticized his treatment of Jeremy Glick, the son of a September 11 terror attack victim (Barry Glick) who memorably appeared on the show. While many of these criticisms of O'Reilly had been common among critics of his politics as well as his interviewing style, this marked the first time that O'Reilly was directly confronted with them on his show. The interview may be viewed here. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... OReilly Factor promotional image from FoxNews. ... William James Bill OReilly, Jr. ... Combatants Baathist Iraq Baath Loyalists Al-Qaeda in Iraq Mahdi Army Other insurgent groups and militias United States United Kingdom New Iraqi Army Kurdish forces Multinational forces in Iraq Commanders Saddam Hussein Abu Musab al-Zarqawi† Moqtada al-Sadr Abu Ayyub al-Masri Mujahideen Shura Council Tommy Franks... Loudness is the quality of a sound which is high in volume (amplitude, or sound pressure). ... Talking points are small arguments or phrases that political strategists issue to representatives or supporters of a party or administration to be used over and over again in speeches, talk show appearances and debates. ... Jeremy Matthew Glick is an author and activist best known for his appearance on The OReilly Factor, presented by commentator Bill OReilly, on February 4, 2003. ... The towers burn shortly after United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower on the right. ...

External links

• Museum of Broadcast Communications: Donahue, Phil

• Democracy Now!: Interview with Phil Donahue on the state of the media

• Archive of American Television : Video Interview