CNN’s “King Charles,” the new weekly show hosted by Gayle King and Charles Barkley, flopped in its debut broadcast, ranking among the lowest-rated CNN primetime show premieres over the past decade.
The long-hyped premiere of the new weekly primetime series, which aired Wednesday at 10 pm, drew just 501,000 viewers, according to same-day Nielsen ratings.
It finished a distant third among the biggest cable news channels in total viewers, ranking as the smallest of any of CNN’s primetime debuts this year.
“King Charles” was the brainchild of Chris Licht, the former CNN CEO, who was brought in to revamp the network’s struggling daytime and primetime lineups.
But Licht was ousted after a scathing magazine profile alienated staffers and key senior figures at the network who called for his head.
Licht’s replacement, Mark Thompson, has yet to announce any major changes as CNN continues to trail Fox News and MSNBC in the ratings.
“King Charles” was meant to take on a late night vibe, pairing “CBS Mornings” anchor King and NBA Hall of Famer and analyst Barkley to discus the news and culture while taking calls.
The pre-taped show on Wednesday, included a jokey call from Barkley’s “Inside the NBA” co-host Shaquille O’Neal, which wasn’t enough to lift ratings.
The show came in well behind MSNBCs “Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell” with 1.6 million total viewers, although it attracted 139,000 viewers in the key demographic of adults aged 25 to 54 versus O’Donnell’s show, which brought in just 132,000 demo viewers.
Ratings for “Gutfeld!” on Fox News totaled 2.2 million and 241,000 viewers in the demo.
CNN has been trying to dig itself out of last place and has rejiggered its primetime lineup this year with new hosts at 9 pm, 10 pm and 11 pm slots.
“King Charles” wasn’t able to move the needle, however, trailing a series of notable CNN primetime premieres over the years. They include “Laura Coates Live” and “NewsNight”–both of which debuted in October– with 535,000 and 645,00 total viewers, respectively.
It also trailed “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” which premiered at 9 pm in July with 540,000 viewers.
Looking back, “King Charles” had a smaller audience than Don Lemon’s primetime show, which garnered 944,000 total viewers when it debuted in May 2021, Chris Cuomo’s 2017 primetime show with 1.5 million viewers and the 2011 premiere of “Erin Burnett Outfront” with 535,000 viewers.
A rep from CNN did not comment specifically on “King Charles’” lackluster debut, but said the show “performed competitively well in the demo, which has been CNNs general trend.”
The rep also noted thatKing Charleshad the youngest median viewer age at 67 of any 10 pm cable news show Wednesday. Fox News had a median age of68, while MSNBCs median viewer in that hour was 76.
Who knew what about the Afghan data leak? And could anyone in parliament have done more to help scrutinise the government at the time of the superinjunction? Harriet thinks so.
So in this episode, Beth, Ruth, and Harriet talk about the massive breach, the secret court hearings, and the constitutional chaos it’s unleashed.
Plus – the fallout from the latest Labour rebellion. Four MPs have lost the whip – officially for repeated defiance, but unofficially? A government source called it “persistent knobheadery”.
So is Keir Starmer tightening his grip or losing control? And how does this compare to rebellions of Labour past?
Oh and singer Chesney Hawkes gets an unexpected mention.
Responding to claims in the podcast about whether Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle could have scrutinised the government, a Commons spokesperson said: “As has been made clear, Mr Speaker was himself under a superinjunction, and so would have been under severe legal restrictions regarding speaking about this. He would have had no awareness which organisations or individuals were and were not already aware of this matter.
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“The injunction could not constrain proceedings in parliament and between being served with the injunction in September 2023 and the 2024 General Election Mr Speaker granted four UQs on matters relating to Afghan refugees and resettlement schemes.
“Furthermore, as set out in the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Speaker has no powers to refer matters to the Intelligence and Security Committee.”
England have booked their place in the semi-finals of the Women’s Euros after knocking out Sweden.
The Lionesses won 3-2 on penalties at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, after clawing their way back to take the game into extra-time.
The defending champions had been 2-0 down at half-time after goals from Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius in the quarter-final clash.
England then levelled matters towards the end of normal time. Lucy Bronze delivered the first England goal on 79 minutes, assisted by substitute Chloe Kelly. Two minutes later, Michelle Agyemang followed suit, taking the score to 2-2.
Image: England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton (R) celebrates with teammates after the side beat Sweden. Pic: AP
After a goalless extra-time, it was time for penalties.
Alessia Russo kicked things off, finding the back of the net for England, before Lauren James, Alex Greenwood, Beth Mead and Grace Clinton had their attempts saved by Sweden’s Jennifer Falk.
The game was sent into sudden death after Falk went face-to-face with England’s Hannah Hampton but sent the ball flying over the crossbar.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: A devastated Sweden. Pic: Reuters
It all came down to Sweden’s seventh penalty after Bronze sensationally scored, with 18-year-old Smilla Holmberg missing the chance to send her team through.
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England will next face Italy in the semi-finals in Geneva on Tuesday.
‘That was crazy’
England boss Sarina Wiegman described the action as “one of the hardest games I’ve ever watched”.
Image: Sarina Wiegman after the match. Pic: Reuters
“We could have been out of the game three or four times, when you’re 2-0 at half-time it’s not good,” she said after the match.
“Although we started really bad, at the end it got better, but we didn’t create anything so we had to change shape, and we score two goals – that was crazy.
“We miss a lot [of penalties], and they miss even more. I need to decompress, I think.”
Image: Hannah Hampton still delivered with one nostril down. Pic: Reuters
Goalkeeper Hampton added that it was “stressful watching” and “stressful playing”.
The 24-year-old, who was left with a bloodied nose in extra-time, said: “Every time I saved one, I was just thinking ‘please put it in, so we have a bit of a cushion!’
“To be honest, I think I was better in the game when I had one nostril than when I was completely fine!”
She said it was the support of the England fans that helped the team push on. She said: “They were definitely behind me and I appreciate all the support.”
Image: Michelle Agyemang reacts after levelling the game for the Lionesses. Pic: Reuters
Their journey in the group stages started with a 2-1 defeat to France, but hopes were lifted after England sailed past the Netherlands and Wales to reach the knockout stages, finishing second in Group D.
Sweden on the other hand went into Thursday’s game unbeaten in the tournament so far, having already defeated Germany, Poland and Denmark in the group stages.
By the time Hannah Hampton appeared in the news conference, the England goalkeeper was relieved, ecstatic and wanting to share this night far and wide.
So when her phone started ringing with a FaceTime call, she broke off speaking to the media about reaching the Euros semi-finals to answer it.
And then share the call with the room in Zurich.
After such a nerve-shredding night, this was the moment to relax and just savour it all.
Savour how close they came to throwing it all away against Sweden before staging a stirring comeback inspired by Lucy Bronze.
The 33-year-old scored the goal that began the fightback with 11 minutes to go and converted England’s final penalty in the shootout.
Image: Lucy Bronze converted England’s final penalty. Pic: Reuters
“Lucy Bronze is one of a kind,” England manager Sarina Wiegman said. “It’s that resilience, that fight. I think the only way to get her off the pitch is in a wheelchair.”
The Lionesses looked down and out, 2-0 down after 25 minutes.
Completely outplayed. A defence run ragged. Just too sloppy.
“We said at half-time we don’t want to go home,” Hampton said. “So it’s up to us to turn the game around.”
Image: Things were not looking good for England by half-time. Pic: Reuters
Image: But the team managed to turn things around. Pic: Reuters
That only came after Wiegman deployed the substitutes the manager calls “finishers”.
They fulfilled their mission.
“Sweden in that moment had to adapt to some different things in the game,” Wiegman said, “before they could, it was 2-2.”
Within seconds of coming on, match-winner Chloe Kelly showed the missing spirit. The spirit that saw her score the Euro 2022 winner.
Image: Pic: Reuters
A creator of two goals in 103 seconds.
A cross headed in with 11 minutes to go by Bronze – the only player still playing from the Euro 2013 group-stage elimination.
It was a lifeline seized on so quickly.
Another cross from Kelly was this time brought down by Beth Mead before Michelle Agyemang.
The timeliest of goals from the teen – a first tournament goal on her third appearance as a sub.
Image: Teenager Michelle Agyemang reacts after scoring England’s second goal in normal time. Pic: Reuters
But there would be the anxiousness of extra time to follow, unable to find a breakthrough.
So to the shootout that lasted 14 penalties between them.
Hampton said: “It was stressful watching and playing, I thought every single time when I saved one, ‘Please score and give us a cushion’. I feel so happy and relieved.”
Around Alessia Russo and Kelly scoring there were four England misses before Bronze converted England’s seventh and Sweden missed a fifth.