CNN axes Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s weekly show ‘King Charles’ after 6 months
The CNN weekly prime time talk show co-hosted by basketball loudmouth Charles Barkley and CBS morning star Gayle King has ended a six-month run that failed to produce ratings.
The weekly call-in show “King Charles,” which aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday nights failed to generate more viewers than reruns of the sitcom “Friends” and episodes of “South Park.”
It was the lowest-rated prime time weeknight series debut for CNN in at least a decade, according to Nielsen.
When the show launched in November, CNN said it planned to air it through the early spring.
An industry source told The Post that the show was limited by Barkley’s schedule.
The NBA Hall of Famer could only do the show on Wednesdays due to his other commitments — namely his role as a co-host of the popular “Inside the NBA” on CNN’s sister station TNT, according to a source close to the network.
Barkley had mentioned that his crowded schedule made it more difficult for the show to attract a loyal following.
Since debuting in November, “King Charles” viewership fell 20%. The first airing was watched by 500,000 total viewers and 139,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen.
The show’s Jan. 31 episode failed to crack the 100,000 viewer threshold in the 25-54 demo — the first time it couldn’t reach the six-figure mark, Nielsen numbers show.
A CNN spokesperson said that the show was “a great addition to CNN’s lineup” and that the viewership was among “the youngest, most affluent, and most diverse” audience in cable during its time slot.
The spokesperson noted that “King Charles” attracted an audience that was 44% non-white — the most diverse viewership among the network’s prime time shows, according to Nielsen figures.
“King Charles” was the brainchild of Chris Licht, the former CNN boss who was unceremoniously fired last year after an unflattering magazine profile portrayed him as a thin-skinned manager who alienated staffers and was jealous of their longing for his predecessor, Jeff Zucker.
Its March 13 episode generated just 416,000 total viewers — a 17% drop compared to the 457,000 total viewers who tuned in a week prior, according to Nielsen figures.
In the 25-54 demo, the March 13 episode drew 43% fewer viewers compared to the premiere in late November as well as a 52% drop in the 18-49 age demographic compared to the Nov. 29 show.
The 14 episodes that aired drew an average of 459,000 total viewers and 106,000 in the 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen figures.
“King Charles” was a distant third to its competitors — Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on MSNBC.
“Gutfeld” average 2.2 million total viewers and 320,000 in the 25-54 demographic — the highest of all three cable news outlets, according to Nielsen.
O’Donnell’s show pulled in 1.5 million total viewers and 142,000 in the 25-54 demo, the Nielsen figures show.
Fox News is owned by Fox Corp — the sister company to The Post’s parent News Corp.
Additional Reporting by Alexandra Steigrad
