


The short reign of CNN’s King Charles has come to an end as the network announced that the show’s limited run is over.
The weekly talk show, co-hosted by CBS Mornings’s Gayle King and TNT’s Charles Barkley, had been announced last year to debut in November, and it finished its final episode on Wednesday. The network says it is happy with the show’s performance, adding that it brought in new viewers for CNN.
“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,” a statement from a network spokesperson to the Washington Examiner read.
In November, King Charles debuted to about 501,000 viewers in its prime-time premiere on Nov. 29 at 10 p.m., putting it in third place behind its cable news competition of Fox News and MSNBC, according to Nielsen ratings data. The number of viewers was also CNN’s lowest prime-time debut audience in a decade.
Earlier this year, Barkley generated controversy on the show when he said that he would punch any black person he saw wearing former President Donald Trump’s mug shot merchandise. His comment was made after Trump spoke at the Black Conservative Federation Honors Gala in South Carolina, during which he claimed he had been told he was gaining support among black voters because they see him “being discriminated against” over his numerous indictments.
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Barkley has since clarified his statement, stating he “obviously” would not literally punch people and that people are free to vote for whomever they choose.
CNN has not indicated what will now fill the 10 p.m. Wednesday slot.