NBC’s “Today” show, citing family members, said Donahue died Sunday after a long illness.
FILE - Phil Donahue attends the 2019 American Icon Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on May 19, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, has died. He was 88.Dubbed “the king of daytime talk,” Donahue was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show, typically during a full hour with a single guest.
Later renamed “Donahue,” the program launched in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967. Donahue’s willingness to explore the hot-button social issues of the day emerged immediately, when he featured atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair as his first guest. He would later air shows on feminism, homosexuality, consumer protection and civil rights, among hundreds of other topics.
Donahue returned briefly to television in 2002, hosting another “Donahue” show on MSNBC. The station canceled it after six months, citing low ratings. After a series of early jobs in radio and TV, Donahue was invited to move an earlier radio talk show to Dayton’s WLWD television station in 1967. It moved in 1974 to Chicago, where it stayed for years, then ended its run in New York.
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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.
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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.
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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.
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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died.Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen
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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched a TV genre, has diedDonahue was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show, creating a format that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others.
Read more »
Phil Donahue dies; his pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genreDubbed “the king of daytime talk,” Donahue was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show.
Read more »