CNN Pulls The Plug on Gayle King and Charles Barkley's Ratings-Starved Show After 6 Months
Co-hosts King and Barkley praised working with each other as signed off their show for the last time in April.
April 15 2024, Published 12:51 p.m. ET
After pouring money into Gayle King and Charles Barkley's King Charles, CNN has decided to pull the plug on the program, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The network had high hopes for the limited TV series bringing in much-needed viewers — which included giving King a $12 million salary — but after six months the program failed to live up to expectations.
The longtime talk show host's best friend Gayle King broke the news on CBS Mornings on Tuesday.
King and Barkley praised working with each other as they took turns signing off for one last time.
"I will say this: I have loved working with you and something tells me Charles, this will not be the last time that we’re working together," King told her co-host.
King co-hosted the program alongside NBA legend Charles Barkley.
"Call me Gayle," the former NBA star jokingly replied.
"We will see you the next time whenever we see you. Thanks so much for being with us for the past six months. We had a blast," King added.
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A network spokesperson released a statement on the show's short-lived run, in which they noted the program was a limited series with an end date scheduled for spring 2024.
"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 CNN spokesperson said per the Hollywood Reporter.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the network outraged staffers who managed to survive layoffs when it was announced that the CBS Mornings' anchor would be co-hosting King Charles for a hefty salary.
"Everyone has been told there’s no money, yet they’re managing to scrape up cash to pay Gayle King," a source said of King's $12 million salary. "It’s incredibly tone-deaf, as well as being rude to the hard-working people who’ve been toiling here for years!"
King's $12 million salary for the one-hour weekly program outraged staffers.
Despite CNN signing off on King's inflated salary, King Charles failed to deliver much-needed ratings that the network hoped for.
While the nighttime talk show produced a few sensational sound bites during its short tenure, the program ultimately faced the same struggles to capture viewers and boost ratings as other CNN shows.
Four months into King Charles' run, less than 500,000 viewers tuned in to the March 13 episode.
The March 13 episode brought in a measly 416,000 viewers, resulting in a 17% decline in ratings from the previous week.
Moreover, King Charles' declining ratings represented an overall 43% drop in the coveted 25-34 age demographic and a whopping 52% drop in the 18-25 age demographic when compared to the November 29 episode.
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