Thaindian News

New York, Oct 6 (ANI): CNN’s new show ‘Parker Spitzer’, which replaced ‘Rick’s List’, made its debut on Monday night, but attracted only 454,000 viewers, a decline from the previous show.

According to The New York Times, the show netted 118,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic coveted by advertisers, reports the New York Post.

The program features former New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer — who resigned in disgrace in 2008 after a prostitute scandal — and Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist, in a dual anchor format.

It lagged well behind 8pm ET rivals ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ on Fox News Channel and ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ on MSNBC.

Those two shows drew audiences of 3.1 million and 1.1 million viewers respectively.

‘Parker Spitzer’s’ 454, 000 viewers even trailed Nancy Grace on CNN’s Headline News channel, which drew 468,000 viewers.

‘Parker Spitzer’ replaced ‘Rick’s List’, which had been averaging approximately 491,000 viewers.

The host of ‘Rick’s List’, Rick Sanchez, was fired by CNN last week following comments he made in a radio interview in which he called late-night funnyman Jon Stewart a “bigot” and said Jewish people were not an oppressed minority, telling the radio host that they were in charge of most media outlets.

‘Parker Spitzer’ even lost viewers from the show that led into it. ‘John King USA’ at 7pm ET attracted 471,000 viewers.

However, CNN defended the show’s poor first outing.

“We are pleased with the quality of the show and over time we think viewers will be drawn to the more thoughtful discussion and lively debate that Kathleen and Eliot have to offer,” CNN spokesperson told The Huffington Post website. (ANI)