Eric Alterman says that part of the problem with Donahue was that the show sucked. Well, it did kinda suck, but since when does that determine whether a show stays on the air? Donahue was regularly MSNBC's top-rated show. Not a particularly astounding achievement, perhaps, but it beat out all of the other shows-that-suck on MSNBC. In addition, we know now that the producers kept mucking around with the show and likely contributed to its suckiness, by forcing Donahue to constantly have "balance" - you know, Phil and the same 3 mouth-breathers we can see on Fox regularly.
Sure, I'd prefer someone other than Phil to be the only liberal with his own cable news talk show. But, the wider issue is that MSNBC was constantly sabotaging his show, and despite that he still regularly beat Tweety, whose cancellation isn't, as far as I know, even an issue. Media wags regularly discussed Donahue's impending cancellation throughout its entire run DESPITE the high, by MSNBC standards, ratings.
So, what's up with that?
