MEDIA WATCH

allyourtv.com: Donahue Cancelled -The Surrender Of MSNBC

While the official announcement wasn't a surprise to anyone working at
the network, MSNBC officially canceled the primetime show "Donahue" on
Tuesday, citing disappointing ratings. While "Donahue" does badly trail both
O'Reilly and CNN's Connie Chung in the ratings, those numbers have
improved in recent weeks. So much so that the program is the top-rated show on
MSNBC, beating even the highly promoted "Hardball With Chris
Matthews."..... That report--shared with me by an NBC news
insider--gives an excruciatingly painful assessment of the channel and its
programming. Some of recommendations, such as dropping the "America's News Channel,"
have already been implemented. But the harshest criticism was leveled
at Donahue, whom the authors of the study described as "a tired, left-wing
liberal out of touch with the current marketplace." .... The study went
on to claim that Donahue presented a "difficult public face for NBC in a
time of war......He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war,
anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report
went on to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes "a
home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors
are waving the flag at every opportunity."