It was a show that no one asked for, and his debut performed as well as almost everyone predicted.
CNN's “King Charles,” hosted by NBA icon Charles Barkley and Oprah Winfrey's best friend, CBS “Mornings” anchor Gayle King, is officially a flop after debuting with just 501,000 viewers , according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR).
“It finished a distant third among the largest cable news channels in total viewers and really didn't [move] the spike in CNN's recent hourly averages,” THR reports. “In fact, it ranks as the smallest audience of any of CNN's debuts this year.”
How BizPac Review previously reported, King and Barkley announced “King Charles” in April during TNT's “NBA Tip-Off.”
Charles Barkley, Gayle King to Host New CNN Show; The goal is good conversations “without falling apart” https://t.co/sPrMYf1VNl pic.twitter.com/LAwLWXZ0mM
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) April 25, 2023
The duo stated that they wanted to have a “good conversation” on CNN, “without tearing each other down.”
The previous month, CNN had “posted its lowest ratings in at least three decades among viewers 25-54, according to Nielsen, and its first-quarter prime-time average of 535,000 viewers on March 24 down 35% a year earlier,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
It was CNN Chief Executive Chris Licht's latest pitch to bring viewers to the network on the go.
“This show will be an exciting new way to bring culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities,” Licht wrote at the time.
Six weeks later, he was shown the door at the network after staff balked at a profile in The Atlantic, according to THR.
At least part of the problem with the show's “exciting new way” is that it's pre-recorded, meaning Barkley and King can't discuss breaking news during the hour, according to THR.
Young Thug's lawyers said prosecutors are misrepresenting evidence and lyrics in the rapper's racketeering trial.
At “King Charles” premiere, Grammy-nominated artist Fat Joe says the news is “horrible.”
Read more: https://t.co/d0ic30Yxyp pic.twitter.com/zTrH2QVbnV
— CNN (@CNN) November 30, 2023
However, they may receive calls, including “a prank call” from fellow basketball superstar and Barkley's co-host Shaquille O'Neal, the outlet reports.
However, ratings were dismal.
By comparison, MSNBC's “Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell” averaged 1.57 million viewers Wednesday ahead of the King Charles premiere, but trailed CNN in the demo by about 7,000 viewers.” according to THR.
Still, the show came in “slightly ahead of CNN's November average at 10 p.m. weekdays, where Abby Phillip hosts 'CNN NewsNight,'” he says. “That show averaged 474,000 viewers in November (excluding election coverage on November 7, analysis of a Republican primary debate on November 8 and Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week).”
“'King Charles' drew 139,000 viewers in the key news demographic of adults 25-54, also slightly ahead of 'NewsNight's' November average of 123,000,” it added.
According to Breitbart John Nolte“If CNNLOL had thrown the real King Charles, you know, the former Prince of Wales, out of a giant slingshot and into a pile of his global warming lies, that might have drawn more viewers.”
Failure is bad anywhere, but failure at CNN is a special kind of horrible.
“Being CNN's biggest flop is like being the shortest dwarf in the circus, the fattest, fattest guy on Weight Watchers, the dumbest kid in special education, or the worst Jake Tapper novel.” wrote Nolte. “Imagine your debut flopping more than Kaitlan 'Nurse Ratched' Collins' debut. But at least now Collins has found his audience – oh wait, he hasn't! (See #40 with 532,000 average viewers lol.)
“CNN is done, doomed, over and over.”
Nolte continued:
With only two other cable news channels for competition, CNN's highest-rated program came in at number 32 – 32! MSNBC and Fox News took 31 slots before CNN could squeeze in one. Even funnier, that show, something called Erin Burnett Outfront, drew an average of just 741,000 viewers for the entire month of November. You read that right: CNN's number one show can't even pull in 750,000 viewers.
Get a load of this…
Fox News' lowest-rated program (which doesn't air before 6 a.m.) draws more viewers (801,000) than CNN's highest-rated program (741,000). The Saturday morning edition of Fox and Friends drew the most viewers (1.075 million).
“Which brings me to this question…” he wrote. “What were Gayle King and Charles Barkley thinking? It's like they bought a ticket to board the Titanic while the Titanic was sinking.”
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