FORMER GOVENOR DROPPED FROM PRIME TIME

FORMER New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been cut from CNN’s prime-time line-up, having spent
less time as a TV host than he did as governor.

Spitzer, who resigned in March 2008, 14 months into his term as New York governor amid a prostitution scandal, began his nightly show in October.

CNN has reshuffled its schedule to move Anderson Cooper’s flagship newscast into the tough 8pm time slot and eliminate Spitzer’s In the Arena programme.

Spitzer signed off his show last Wednesday, saying it would be his last. He ended with a quotation from President Theodore Roosevelt praising people who get ‘in the arena’ to try to improve society, a passage he said inspired the name for his show.

CNN talked to Spitzer about staying with the network as a commentator, but he decided not to.

“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 enjoyed my time at CNN.”

At first Spitzer was paired on Parker/Spitzer with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who left in February. The show was then renamed In the Arena with Spitzer the lead personality.

It’s in a tough time slot, where Campbell Brown, Connie Chung and Paula Zahn all found rough going before him. Spitzer’s show averaged 595,000 viewers for the first six months of the year, compared to conservative competitor Bill O’Reilly at Fox News Channel, who averaged just under three million viewers.

MSNBC, first with Keith Olbermann and then with Lawrence O’Donnell, averaged 984,000.

Spitzer has never ruled out a return to politics, and by hosting a prime-time television show, the former governor maintained a level of visibility that could have helped relaunch his electoral career. But friends said Spitzer had until now been focused on his work at CNN.

Cooper’s 10pm newscast has been CNN’s most successful evening programme, so it will now get the test at 8pm.