XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED DEC 11, 2002 16:35:27 ET XXXXX
'DONAHUE' BACK IN THE BASEMENT AS NETWORK PREPARES CANCELLATION
MSNBC's DONAHUE fell back in to last place Tuesday night in the cable news wars, just as NBC News President Neal Shapiro is said to have become convinced the show may be unable to increase its viewership levels, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
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Overnight NIELSEN runs show DONAHUE trailing CNN's CHUNG by more than 3-to-1 and FOX's O'REILLY by nearly 7-to-1!
"I think we've reached the point of no return [for the show]," a top NBC source told DRUDGE from New York on Tuesday. "Simply put, we are losing money... there is no growth in audience, the demos are flat. We are looking at a cancellation, regretfully."
The decision on DONAHUE will be made directly by Shapiro, sources said.
[12/10/02]
O'REILLY 2.0 [SHARE]
HANNITY/COLMES 1.6
SHEP SMITH 1.3
LARRY KING 1.1
GRETA 1.0
BRIT HUME 1.0
CHUNG 0.9
AARON BROWN 0.7
CROSSFIRE 0.6
HARBALL 0.4
DONAHUE 0.3
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Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereportArchives.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2002
Not for reproduction without permission of the author
