CNN axed the Charles Barkley and Gayle King primetime talk show after only six months on the air after it failed to generate ratings.
The “King Charles” show — co-hosted by sports commentator Barkley and “CBS Mornings” host King — aired on Wednesday nights and generated worse ratings than reruns of shows like “South Park” and “Friends,” the New York Post reported.
The show launched in November and became the lowest-rated primetime week night show CNN has debuted in at least a decade, according to Nielsen ratings.
Viewership fell 20% from the debut episode of “King Charles” in November, which was watched by 500,000 viewers, with 139,000 of those in the coveted age demographic of ages 25-54, according to Nielsen. By the end of January, those numbers didn’t even crack 100,000 mark among that same demographic, Nielsen showed. Over the show’s 14 episodes, it had an average of 459,000 total viewers, with an average of 106,000 in the advertising demographic of ages 25-54.
It came in third behind Fox News’ “Gutfeld” and MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” The Greg Gutfeld-lead show averages 2.2 million total viewers with more than 300,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demo, the highest of all three cable news outlets, according to Nielsen. While over on MSNBC, O’Donnell scores an average of 1.5 million total viewers and 142,000 in the highly desired age demographic.
CNN axes Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s weekly show ‘King Charles’ after 6 months https://t.co/yD1j7EW7mf pic.twitter.com/U7ua9oUGEa
— New York Post (@nypost) April 15, 2024
An industry insider attributed part of the problem to the NBA Hall of Famer’s rigorous schedule, as he was still a co-host on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” and was only available on Wednesdays.
However, a CNN spokesperson touted the show, stating that it was “a great addition to CNN’s lineup,” noting the shows diversity pull with 44% non-white — the most diverse viewership among the network’s prime time shows, according to Nielsen figures.
CNN also noted that the show was announced as a “limited run” series, with an end date of spring 2024, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
“King Charles” was created by fired former CNN boss Chris Licht, whose tenure at the network ended after The Atlantic published a 15,000-word profile titled “Inside the Meltdown at CNN,” a piece that reportedly enraged executives at Warner Bros. Discovery, as previously reported.
Last June, Licht announced he was leaving the media company — just 16 months after being picked for the position.
His tenure at CNN was rough from the start. Weeks after the former CEO took over the reins, the cable news giant’s attempt at launching a streaming service failed after just a month in operation, attracting fewer than 10,000 daily users. The CNN executive also faced criticism from his employees and poor ratings performances in the news channel’s primetime slots.
Zach Jewell contributed to this piece.
This story has been updated with CNN’s spokesperson’s comments.
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