NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 TV personalities Gayle King and Charles Barkley will headline a new prime-time weekly CNN show, 鈥淜ing Charles,鈥 debuting in the fall, the network announced Saturday as it tries to engineer a turnaround amid tumbling ratings.
CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht said in a statement that the show 鈥渨ill be an exciting new way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities.鈥
Licht said King will continue to anchor CBS Mornings, and former NBA star Barkley will continue his current role at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.
Appearing on TNT to discuss the new show, the duo said they would talk about politics but that the show would not have a political slant.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat,'" Barkley said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the things that鈥檚 already ruined television in general.鈥
Cable news ratings are down across the board compared to 2022, when Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine was fresh in the news. CNN鈥檚 dip has been most dramatic 鈥 61% in prime time in March.
CNN is a year into new corporate management with Warner Bros. Discovery, which .
Licht鈥檚 revamp of 鈥淐NN This Morning鈥 was plagued with bad publicity in the wake of co-host Don Lemon鈥檚 ill-advised , which offended many.
