He forged a two-decade partnership with Jim Lehrer, his co-anchor on public television.
and served for two decades as its urbane, evenhanded co-anchor, died April 12 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 93.Mr. MacNeil, known as Robin, and Jim Lehrer, a former Texas newspaperman, formed one of television journalism’s most successful and enduring partnerships when in 1975 they launched what became “The PBS NewsHour.
Although it was accused at times of being boring and elitist, the program developed a loyal audience, with about 5 million viewers tuning in each night by the time Mr. MacNeil retired as executive editor and co-anchor in 1995. A decade later — while moderating “Washington Week in Review,” his first job at PBS — he started covering the Watergate hearings with Lehrer, with whom he bonded over shared literary interests. They spent more than 300 hours together in front of the camera, anchoring live coverage of the Senate hearings thatMr.
Backed by corporate sponsors such as PepsiCo and AT&T, the show endured despite being eclipsed in the ratings by the major network programs and facing a budget shortfall that contributed to Mr. MacNeil’s decision to retire on its 20-year anniversary. Mr. MacNeil was steered toward a naval career by his father but, after graduating from high school in Ottawa, failed part of the naval college entrance exam. “When that happened, the bottom dropped out of both my world and my father’s,” he laterHe turned toward theater at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. producer recruited him for radio acting after seeing an “Othello” production that featured Mr. MacNeil as Cassio. Mr.
Survivors include two children from his first marriage, Cathy and Ian MacNeil, a Tony-winning set designer; two children from his second marriage, Alison and William MacNeil; a brother; and five grandchildren.
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