by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
December 14, 2023
“King Charles,” the new CNN talk show hosted by Charles Barkley and Gayle King, has been riddled with low ratings blows and personality differences.
Charles Barkley and Gayle King’s new talk show on CNN is already making headlines–but for the wrong reasons. Due to low ratings, the network is reconsidering the King Charles, which debuted its first episode on Nov. 29.
RadarOnline reported the news weeks after its release, with the program only mustering 500,000 viewers in its inaugural airing. The ratings, according to the tabloid, are the lowest ever for a new show on the platform. The show was conjured up by producers given the television personalities’ fondness for one another over the years. However, it looks like the broadcast journalist and sports commentator’s union is not the slam dunk CNN executives thought it would be.
The issue came from the co-hosts’ conflicting styles when it comes to approaching topics. King, a vet of CBS This Mornings‘ mix of hard news and light programming, allegedly wanted Barkley to be more versed in the show’s serious content. However, Barkley has been unwilling to switch up his ways to appease King, leading to supposed friction on set.
“Gayle enjoys being breezy and conversational, but she still considers herself a serious journalist,” shared an insider. “Meanwhile, Charles has a style he’s honed as a TV sports commentator — boastful, outrageous and always with an opinion, even if it isn’t factual, and he knows little to nothing about the topic!”
Since the ratings were blasted to the public, Barkley has continued his comedic trash-talking, this time to the system delivering them. While on the Steam Room podcast, as reported by NextTV, the former NBA player remarked that Nielsen was outdated and the “biggest clowns in the world.”
“An article came out that our ratings weren’t great … but I want to tell my team, man, these Nielsen people are the biggest clowns in the world. Name me one person you know with a Nielsen box,” said Barkley.
King Charles did debut at No. 1 among Black audiences in ratings conducted by VideoAmp suggesting that the talk show is at least being supported by the Black community.
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