''King Charles'' was an American news discussion show broadcast on Wednesday evenings by

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 the M ...

, and globally on

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

. Premiering on November 29, 2023, the program was hosted by Gayle King and

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Natio ...

. King is a co-host of '' CBS Mornings'' and Barkley is a panelist on '' Inside the NBA'', which is also produced by CNN's parent company

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...

History

The show was the brainchild of former CNN chief

Chris Licht Christopher Andrew Licht (born October 22, 1971) is an American television newsman and producer. Since May 2022, he has been the chairman and CEO of CNN. He is best known as the showrunner and executive producer of ''The Late Show With Stephen Co ...

, who had wanted more personality-based programming. Licht pitched the series to King and Barkley separately who later had a "secret meeting" before joining. The details were announced in April 2023 during the NBA playoffs. The program replaced ''CNN NewsNight with

Abby Phillip Abigail Daniella Phillip (born November 25, 1988) is an American journalist who works as a political correspondent and weekend anchor for CNN. She previously worked for ''The Washington Post'', ABC News, and Politico. Early life and education P ...

'' on Wednesdays. The program was described as "a talk show centered around the news stories and cultural moments that Gayle and Charles are most interested in" and not a straight newscast. King and Barkley interview both political and cultural figures and take calls from media personalities. The program is prerecorded, which makes it subject to preemption due to breaking news events. The first episode drew 501,000 viewers which was the lowest-rated program of the three major cable news networks and 140,000 less than the debut of ''NewsNight'' the previous month; it is also CNN's lowest-rated debut in a decade. The second episode garnered 466,000 viewers, including 115,000 in the 25–54 age demographic. On the April 10 broadcast, the hosts announced that the show would be the final episode. According to CNN, the show was planned as a limited series to begin with and they decided not to extend the length of it afterwards.

References

External links

Official website
{{CNN 2023 American television series debuts 2024 American television series endings 2020s American television news shows CNN original programming American English-language television shows