OAN’s James Meyers
2:36 PM – Monday, April 15, 2024
Yet again, CNN has canceled another prime time talk show. This time, the late night show that was co-hosted by basketball legend Charles Barkley and CBS morning star Gayle King was cut from the networks lineup.
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The weekly call-in show “King Charles,” which aired at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday nights, has ended after a six-month run that failed to produce ratings.
In a statement on Monday, the network made the announcement, saying “King Charles has come to the end of its limited run as we announced when it launched last fall and was a great addition to CNN’s lineup, with the youngest, most affluent, and most diverse P2+ audience in its cable news time period.”
According to Nielsen Media Research, it was the lowest-rated prime time weeknight series debut for CNN in over a decade.
After the show’s premiere in November, CNN announced they were planning to air it in the early spring.
The show was limited to air only on Wednesday’s due to Barkley’s other commitments, such as his role as a co-host of the popular “Inside the NBA” on TNT, according to multiple sources.
Since the show’s debut in November, “King Charles” viewership fell 20%. The first airing was watched by 500,000 total viewers. 139,000 of those viewers were in the 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen.
The show began to lose viewers early on. The January 31st episode failed to break the 100,000 viewer threshold in the 25-54 demographic, which was the first time the show didn’t eclipse the six-figure mark, Nielsen data showed.
A CNN spokesperson noted that “King Charles” helped attract an audience that was 44% non-White, the most diverse crowd among CNN’s prime time shows, according to Nielsen.
“King Charles” was the project of Chris Licht, the former CNN boss who was fired last year abruptly after he was portrayed as a thin-skinned manager who alienated employees and was always jealous of his predecessor, Jeff Zucker.
The 14 total episodes of the series that aired drew an average of 459,000 total viewers and 106,000 in the 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen figures.
During the same time slot “King Charles” finished third to its other competitors, with Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on MSNBC, placing ahead of the CNN original.
“Gutfeld!” finished in first place averaging 2.2 million viewers and 320,000 in the 25-54 demographic, and O’Donnell’s show garnered 1.5 million total viewers and 142,000 in the 25-54 demo.
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