Phil Donahue dies at 88
Legendary, pioneering talk show changed TV
Phil Donahue, who put the issues-oriented daytime talk show on the map in the 1970s, died Sunday at the age of 88 in his New York City home after a long illness. Even though Donahue’s talk show wasn’t the first syndicated talk show to originate from Chicago, he was an innovator in discussing taboo subjects on daytime television at the time.
Throughout his entire 29-year run, Donahue broke ground on subjects you would never see discussed on daytime TV – homosexuality, the death penalty, abortion, and other controversial issues. In 1982, he informed viewers about a deadly new disease called AIDS when about 300 died and counting. In 1984, Donahue introduced viewers to hip-hop culture, featuring breakdancing on national television for the first time, and even had Luther Campbell of The 2 Live Crew appear on his show in 1990 at the height of their controversies.
He often did some “trashy” subjects at a time when those were in vogue, such as showing up in a dress on a 1988 show and hosting a 1991 episode called “Lesbo-A-Go-Go”. But for the most part, he stayed above the fray.
Born in Cleveland in 1935, Donahue began his career as a production assistant at Westinghouse’s KYW-AM-FM-TV in his hometown (the combo moved to Philadelphia in 1965), and after a short stint as a program director at a Michigan radio station, he landed a morning anchor spot for CBS affiliate WHIO-TV in Dayton, OH and hosted an afternoon talk show on its AM radio counterpart, whose guests included Jimmy Hoffa, Johnny Carson, and Malcolm X.
After a very short stint in WHIO’s sales department, Donahue moved to crosstown rival WLWD-TV (now WDTN) and began The Phil Donahue Show in November 1967. who had atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair as the first guest. There, Donahue made an art of hustling into the audience if they had a question for the guest.
In 1969, WLWD owner Avco Broadcasting – the forerunner to what would later become Multimedia Entertainment, sold the show in syndication, growing to nearly 50 stations in two years. In September 1972, Donahue arrived on Chicago’s airwaves, airing in a late-night slot on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV.
In 1974, Phil Donahue moved to Chicago and taped his show from WGN-TV’s Studio 2. During this time, Donahue hit his stride, with notable guests and dignitaries including John Wayne, Barbra Streisand, Bob Newhart (who died a few weeks ago), Ronald Reagan, Jesse Jackson, Sr., and That Girl star Marlo Thomas, who would eventually become his wife. By this time, Donahue’s show was carried by more than 100 stations and received even more coverage when WGN became a national superstation in 1978.
In January 1982, Donahue moved crosstown to CBS-owned WBBM-TV where it would tape in the historic Studio One on McClurg Ct., where John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon held the first-ever televised debate in 1960. Here, Donahue moved to 9 a.m. and dominated his time slot as his show easily was the most-watched daytime talk show in America, averaging six million viewers daily.
But in late 1984, Donahue moved his talk show to New York City’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where WNBC-TV is located. Facing competition from new A.M. Chicago host Oprah Winfrey on WLS-TV, Donahue’s local ratings began to drop. After an unsuccessful stint in early fringe (airing at 3:30 p.m.), WBBM dropped the show in September 1987 and spent three uneventful years at 10 a.m. on Fox-owned WFLD-TV.
Donahue conceded the top spot to Oprah in 1987, months after her show went national – especially after WABC-TV in New York City moved her show opposite his at 4 p.m. in January of that year. In 1990, Donahue returned to afternoons via NBC-owned WMAQ-TV slotted away from Oprah, and became a hit again locally. But national ratings continued to decline, and in 1995 WNBC and ABC-owned KGO-TV San Francisco dropped the show, leaving Donahue without a home in two of the top ten markets. After five years at WMAQ, Donahue returned to the 9 a.m. death slot on WBBM opposite Oprah, and a few stations such as WBAL-TV Baltimore moved his show to overnights. Sensing he could no longer compete with newer, sleazier talk shows, Donahue retired after 29 years, with his last show airing on September 6, 1996.
One of the things Donahue did was break down barriers. In 1987, he became the first television talk show to do a whole week of shows from the Soviet Union. In 1991, he co-hosted a nightly CNBC show with Soviet journalist Vladimir Pozner which also aired briefly on several NBC-owned stations including WMAQ. In 2002, Donahue returned with a nightly news and discussion show for MSNBC but canceled months later due to his criticism of the War In Iraq.
Throughout his career, Donahue won 21 Daytime Emmy Awards, including four consecutive awards for Outstanding Talk Show from 1977 to 1980. He also earned a Primetime Emmy and Peabody Award, was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Television Hall Of Fame in 1993, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May. TV Guide said Donahue was on the 50 Greatest Shows Of All Time, ranking 29th.
Looking at daytime TV today, it’s hard to imagine at one time, Phil Donahue brought a wide variety of issues into viewers’ homes every day as today’s landscape is littered with too many newscasts, lifestyle shows, generic celebrity-driven gabfests, and dumb panel and debate shows. In a sea of soap operas and game shows. Donahue stood out by not only entertaining viewers but also informing them. His contributions to TV will never be forgotten.