In the Arena
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''In the Arena'' is an American one-hour show on
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
that premiered October 4, 2010 as ''Parker Spitzer'' and was hosted by former New York Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer and Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist
Kathleen Parker Kathleen Parker is a columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, a popular guest on cable and network news programs and a regular guest on NBC's ''Meet the Press'', and p ...
. It was broadcast weeknights in prime time at 8 p.m. ET, replacing '' Campbell Brown'' in the same time slot. The show received consistently low ratings and there were reports of backstage fighting between Spitzer and Parker. On February 25, 2011, CNN announced that Parker had parted ways with the show to continue her work on her syndicated column but would continue to contribute to CNN. Spitzer remained on the show and the title was changed to ''In the Arena'' effective February 28. The show was canceled by CNN on July 6, 2011. The cancellation was effective August 8, 2011, when CNN went on to broadcast its flagship nightly news program AC360, anchored by Anderson Cooper, live at 8 pm and re-air in the time slot of 10 pm.


Program details


Format and topics

In an interview published by ''
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'', newly appointed CNN President
Ken Jautz Ken Jautz serves as executive vice president, CNN-US, responsible for HLN, as well as group operations, business affairs and the Newsource affiliate service. Jautz, a longtime CNN and Turner Broadcasting executive, has managed several networks, ...
said the network was relying heavily on ''Parker Spitzer'' and on
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replacing ''
Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'' to raise ratings with "livelier and more engaging" programming. When asked what kind of ratings improvement he would consider a success, Jautz simply replied, "Higher." On the show's main news
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, it states that it has the goal of facilitating a "dynamic exchange of opinions, ideas and analyses ... on the most important, compelling and amusing stories of the day". Spitzer has remarked, "We'll talk about movies sometimes, sports, we'll have everything under the sun, but we are clearly a political show." A recurring segment in the program is a challenge to legislators called "Name Your Cuts", about the U.S. national debt.


Ratings and reviews

The show premiered to poor ratings, finishing fourth place among
cable news Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...
programs in its time slot. Among people from ages to 25 to 54, the show garnered 118,000 viewers compared to 722,000 for ''
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''. Spitzer remarked in response, ''Parker Spitzer'' arguably has not helped CNN's prime time since, leaving the network with its worst prime-time ratings in 10 years. On December 7, ''The New York Times'' stated that "at the two-month mark, the ratings for CNN's latest experiment are stagnant." Parker has described the show's relationship to viewers as "absolutely a work in progress". Critical reaction has largely been negative. After the show's debut episode, ''
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'' summarized that " and large, television critics from around the country were scathing in their assessment". Reviewers such as those from ''The New York Times'' and ''The Los Angeles Times'' have criticized the show for being one-sided, with Spitzer dominating over the more demure and meekly spoken Parker. Critics such as James Poniewozik writing for ''
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'' have panned the sometimes flirty nature of the back-and-forth between Parker and Spitzer. When ''
Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is o ...
'' columnist
Richard Viguerie Richard Art Viguerie (; born September 23, 1933) is an American conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on politics. He is the current chairman of ConservativeHQ.com. Life and career Viguerie was born in Golden Acres, ...
appeared on the show, he accused it of having a left-of-center bias, saying to Parker: In response, Parker has said, "No matter how great we are or how good a job we do, critics are going to be critics". During a stretch in which Spitzer hosted the show solo and Parker took a leave of absence because of a lung infection, ratings doubled without Parker compared to episodes with her.


Backstage tensions

The show has been dogged by reports of backstage tensions between Spitzer and Parker. The Page Six gossip column in ''
The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' stated in early November that Parker had stormed off the set. When asked about the reports, Parker said, "I don't storm. I saunter."


Parker's departure

On Friday, February 25, 2011, CNN announced that Parker would depart from ''Parker Spitzer'', with Spitzer continuing to host the program, under the new name ''In the Arena'', effective Monday, February 28, 2011. Parker's last words, "On a personal note, today is my last day on the show, and I just want to thank you, the viewers, for tuning in. I look forward to seeing you down the road."


Cancellation of the show

On July 6, 2011, CNN announced the cancellation of ''In the Arena''. The same time slot would be filled by Anderson Cooper's show "
Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Since May 20, 2019, ''360°'' has been b ...
", which will also continue in a rerun in its current slot; no new show will replace it.Eliot Spitzer Show CANCELED on CNN
Huffington Post Online, 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
The reason for the change in the evening lineup was to showcase anchors who were "experienced reporters in covering stories that span the globe," as stated by CNN's executive vice president. Spitzer would later emerge as the host of '' Viewpoint'' on
Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:In the Arena 2010s American television talk shows 2010 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings CNN original programming Eliot Spitzer