Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s CNN talk show comes to an end after just six months amid abysmal ratings

Charles Barkley and Gayle King‘s weekly talk show on CNN has come to an end after just six months.

The basketball Hall-of-Famer and longtime journalist fronted a weekly call-in show named ‘King Charles’ that only launched in November but struggled to pick up viewers.

When the show was announced at the end of 2023, CNN confirmed it would only ‘run through the early spring’.

Airing at 10pm ET on Wednesday nights, data worryingly showed it was behind reruns of both ‘Friends’ and ‘South Park‘ in the viewership figures.

Data from Nielsen also shows the former NBA MVP and longtime journalist’s show had the lowest-rated prime time weeknight series debut in CNN over the last 10 years. 

Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s talk show on CNN has been brutally axed after six months

According to the New York Post, a source said the show was impacted by Barkley’s schedule. He was only available for filming on Wednesdays because of his other commitments as an NBA analyst.

Since premiering in November, ‘King Charles’ saw its audience plummet by around 20 per cent. Its first episode brought in 500,000 viewers.

The 14 episodes that aired brought in an average viewership of 459,000, according to data provided by Nielsen.

A CNN spokesperson said: ‘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. 

Barkley told DailyMail.com last year that he only considered doing the show to work with King

Barkley told DailyMail.com in March 2023 that he only considered the offer to work with King because he has ‘so much love and respect for’ her.

‘I’m not looking to get on TV anymore,’ Barkley told DailyMail.com on the Manhattan streets.

‘I just got so much love and respect for Gayle. She’s the only reason I’m even considering it.’

In October 2022, Barkley signed a new 10-year deal worth well over $100million with TNT to host ‘Inside the NBA’ after he flirted with the idea of joining Saudi-backed LIV Golf.