Not Good To Be King: Larry King’s Worst Quarter Ever, John King Down More Than Any CNN Show

A lot has been written about CNN’s declining ratings, but in the second quarter of 2010 the severity was crystal clear.

Larry King‘s show at 9pmET had its worst quarter ever, in both total viewers and the A25-54 demographic. And John King‘s new 7pmET show was down more than all other CNN programs year-to-year.

Overall for CNN prime time, it was the worst quarter in nine years – since 2001. But specifically King had his worst ever. Campbell Brown‘s 8pmET program also had its worst quarter in both categories, but the hour saw Brown herself only periodically during the quarter since her announcement that she was leaving the network.

Meanwhile the newest program on CNN is John King USA, and so far, it has not caught on. Compared to 2009, when Lou Dobbs was still hosting at 7pmET, the hour is down 41% in total viewers and 35% in the demo, and is down more than any other program on CNN (in total viewers).

Other notes: this was American Morning‘s lowest quarter total viewer average ever, and it was Anderson Cooper‘s 2nd lowest in the demo and 3rd in total viewers.

As CNN prepares a new program at 8pmET with Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker, it is faced with a tough task of sliding the show in between the two King’s whose ratings are struggling. Of course, that assumes the line-up still looks the same in September when the third quarter comes to a close.

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