Not long after it was announced that CNN was revamping the struggling Parker Spitzer show by dumping co-host Kathleen Parker rumors surface that the network wasn’t done tinkering with their evening lineup.

The next show that may face a makeover is John King USA which competes in the 7 p.m. slot against Fox’s Shephard Smith and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has struggled to find an audience like most of the shows on CNN.

According to the Wall Street Journal changes could be coming.

The course correction comes as the network considers other changes to its evening lineup to reverse steep audience declines. According to people familiar with the situation, CNN is looking closely at its 7 p.m. hour, which features a political program hosted by John King. The network also continues to express interest in “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric, whose deal with CBS Corp. expires near the start of June.

TV Newser’s Alex Weprin reported that he was told by an insider at CNN shortly after the program launched in 2010 that the future of the program would depend on how it performed leading up to the 2010 elections.

Unfortunately for CNN  King’s program didn’t give it the expected ratings bump and is mired in third place along with the rest of the evening lineup.

Even though there are rumors of Couric joining CNN  it would be a risky move as she has never gained much of a following at CBS and is largely out of her element doing hard news which dominates the cable news evening schedule.

If there is a revamp or makeover coming CNN may wait a month or two to see how the new Spitzer led program does before making any more decisions.

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author

Don Irvine
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.

Related Posts

2 Comments for After Parker Spitzer John King May be Next

Ted

How ridiculous is it to assert that … “hard news … dominates the cable news evening schedule.”

The cable news evening schedule on FOX and MSNBC is dominated by commentators, provacaeurs, ordinary talking heads … and an assortment of CLEARLY PARTISAN goofballs. The closest thing to “evening news” on cable comes from Anderson Cooper on CNN.

ctr

I agree with Ted that several of later (EST) evening cable shows are hosted by clearly partisan commentators (no one “spins” the news more than O”Reilly–who ridiculously continues to tout a fictitious “working man” family background). However, I would eschew the name-calling–it says far more about the man who stoops to such slanders than it does about the recipient, and certainly it kills any claim to being a rational argument. I think that both the straight news shows and the partisan discussion shows have their place–and I can choose, liberal or conservative. I do get tired of the high-handed attitude by conservatives who object so vociferously to liberal commentators and vice versa! This is probably the kind of thing that got Ted–and many of us along with him, so upset. I heartedly agree with Ted that Anderson does an excellent job of presenting the news, and while not outright partisan, Cooper does have a liberal bias. Fox has a couple of excellent “straight” news shows for those who prefer a conservative bias. Personally, I quite often find Hannity offensively partisan.