Eliot Spitzer, Kathleen Parker to co-host CNN TV show

CNN is in the process of refurbishing its prime-time schedule to take competitors like NBC Universal’s MSNBC and News Corp.’s Fox News head-on.

Holds a lot of promise
Parker and Spitzer will exchange their opinions and judgments with other guests and contributors on the show.

“Other cable news channels force-feed viewers one narrow, predictable point of view; in contrast, CNN will be offering a lively roundup of all the best ideas -- presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country,” Klein said of the new TV show.

CNN, whose ratings have plummeted after the 2008 U.S. presidential election, has a lot of hope from the show.

“CNN is in the ratings doldrums right now. They have to create appointment viewing, and they’re going to have to attract viewers that are going to watch them regardless of the events of the day,” said Brad Adgate, research director at Horizon Media, a New York-based advertising company.

Presence of the duo, Kathleen Parker, who is a regular guest on television shows like 'The O'Reilly Factor' and 'The Chris Matthews Show,' and Princeton and Harvard-educated Eliot Spitzer, the 54th Governor of New York who resigned in the wake of a call-girl scandal in March 2008, will help CNN achieve what the doctor ordered; higher television rating points.

The yet-to-be-named show will start in the fall and air weeknights at 8 p.m., confirmed Jon Klein, the president of CNN U.S.

“Other cable news channels force-feed viewers one narrow, predictable point of view; in contrast, CNN will be offering a lively roundup of all the best ideas -- presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country,” Klein said of the new TV show.

Waning viewer ship
According to data from Nielsen Co, CNN’s average viewer ship at 6, 44,000 viewers a night in prime time, is down 34 percent from the comparative period last year.

Fox, with an average of 2.11 million prime-time viewers, is at the numero uno slot. MSNBC meanwhile draws, on average, 782,000 viewers at prime time.

In the 8 p.m. hour slot where the new show is scheduled to be aired, CNN has attracted 575,000 viewers on average since the beginning of this year. This years viewer ship represents a 36 percent fall from the same period a year earlier.

Fox averages 3.26 million viewers, and MSNBC gets an audience of 1.03 million in this slot, reveals Nielsen data.

Veteran newswoman Connie Chung has her doubts on weather CNN’s endeavor would fetch the desired results.

"It's been very hard for CNN. I empathize with them because CNN's competitors have gone off in extreme directions and what is CNN going to do? But I don't understand this attempt at regaining viewers," Chung said.