CNN has announced the cancellation of “King Charles” after just six months on the air.
The unconventional primetime program, hosted by CBS News star Gayle King and NBA all-time great Charles Barkley, has come to an end… despite the CNN’s claims of success.
“‘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,” CNN said in a statement Monday. The network boasted the show attracted “the most diverse audience (44% non-White) of CNN’s regular prime programming.”
However, that did little to overcome underwhelming overall viewership.
King acknowledged the show’s cancellation last week, telling viewers, “We have to say this is the last show of our limited series.”
When it premiered last November, “King Charles” promised “freewheeling and authentic conversations” covering the week’s top stories and cultural themes. But the unconventional anchor pairing struggled to attract an audience in its primetime slot. Its debut marked CNN’s lowest-rated primetime weeknight series premiere in over a decade, according to reports.
Despite the lackluster ratings, CNN claimed the program’s short tenure was actually a positive.
“The show ran its full run and we’re happy with it. It brought in a lot of new (particularly diverse) audiences to CNN,” a network representative told The Daily News.
King hinted at potentially reuniting with Barkley elsewhere, telling him “Something tells me, Charles, this will not be the last time — just saying — that we’ll work together.”
Barkley replied simply, “Call me, Gayle.”
The two hosts will now return to their separate career paths. King remains with CBS as a host on “CBS Mornings” and editor-at-large for Oprah Daily, while Barkley signed a 10-year contract last year to continue as a basketball analyst for TNT, which like CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We will see you whenever the next time we see you. Thanks so much for being with us for the past 6 months. We had a blast,” were King’s parting words as “King Charles” came to an unceremonious end.
Stephen Dietrich is the Publisher of The Horn News