I was born in 1951, which means I was born into the first generation of television.  My grandparents lived across the street from us in my preschool years and they were the first family on the block to buy a television set.  Let’s just say they were popular with the neighbors, with lots of visitors wanting to experience this new technology of TV.

We had a television set in our living room as far back as I can remember.  That meant I have been watching TV about as long as I have been able to talk.

The early days of the video era was a time of experimentation for those in the business, trying to figure out what the audience wanted using the technology available at that time.

Talk shows in some form have been a part of television and radio for as long as the technologies have existed.  I cannot speak much to television, but I got my feet wet doing talk shows as early as 1970 on radio.

My radio station manager was willing to give me a shot at hosting talk programs, which was a risk since I was fresh out of high school and a broadcasting trade school at the time.  Let’s just say I am thankful no recordings are around from those talk show days.  I made plenty of mistakes, but I learned from those mistakes.

After later entering college, I worked part-time in radio later in the decade.  In 1975, I was working at a radio station with an overnight talk show.  The manager met with me and offered me the job of hosting the “Night Action” 11pm-4am program.

It was a big challenge.  I could invite guests, but most of the show was taking phone calls and talking to the callers on the air.  I would say that was one of the must interesting jobs I ever had in radio and the gig lasted about 2 years.

Television, on the other hand, had talk shows but were very careful about taking questions and comments from the public.  It took many years for the audience to directly participate in a television talk show.

The man that invented getting the audience involved, both in the studio and on the telephone, was Phil Donahue.  Going back and watching those old Donahue shows, he made it look easy.  Let me tell you, it took experience and savvy to do that job and do it well.

The Donahue TV talk show lasted for many years.  He clearly had a liberal political bent, but featured conservatives on his program and allowed them to make their arguments, even when Donahue may have challenged some of those views.

Lots of talk shows were spawned by the Donahue format, the most successful being Oprah Winfrey.  Even Jerry Springer used that format, with a very different focus.

Phil Donahue died recently at the age of 88.  Anyone in the talk show business, radio or TV, owes a lot to Donahue.  He found a new format, made it work, and was successful for a very long time in a business where success can be fleeting and often lasts months,  not years.

My hats off to the memory of Phil Donahue.  He deserves to be remembered and respected for his work.