CNN announced on Wednesday that it would be dropping former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s show, “In the Arena,” from its fall lineup.
CNN will be moving Anderson Cooper’s 10 p.m. show, “AC 360,” to fill Spitzer’s 8 p.m. time slot, and rebroadcasting Cooper’s program at 10 p.m.
The news comes only four months after a substantial reinvention of Spitzer’s show, which was introduced nine months ago as “Parker Spitzer,” featuring co-hosts Spitzer and columnist Kathleen Parker. It was reformatted with Spitzer as the sole host after Parker left the program in late February. (Lindsay Lohan’s mother to be on ‘Dancing with the Stars’?)
CNN is still “in discussions with Eliot Spitzer about an alternative role” with the network, executive vice president Ken Jautz said in a memo to CNN staff.
Spitzer’s own statement, however, which was provided to TV Newser via his publicist, indicates that the politician sees his time at the network coming to an end. “We engaged serious people in conversations about national and global issues in a way that was informative and challenging,” Spitzer said. “I believe that we provided diverse and valuable perspectives during the show’s tenure. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at CNN.”
Spitzer’s show had long struggled with ratings and was CNN’s lowest-rated primetime program, according to Reuters. It was Spitzer’s first public endeavor since his 2008 resignation as governor following his involvement in a high-level prostitution scandal.