Kathleen Parker Leaving CNN

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Kathleen Parker, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who co-hosted CNN's 8 p.m. show, is leaving just five months after the show debuted, the company announced Friday.

"I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writings," Parker said in a statement.

She said she enjoyed her time on the show "Parker Spitzer" with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, but she had missed focusing full-time on her column in the months she had been working on the show.

"With the show going in a new direction, it is a good time to move on," Parker said. "I want to thank the viewers who have been so kind with their comments and support."

Ken Jautz, CNN executive vice president, said a new program, called "In the Arena," will begin Monday. Spitzer will remain on that show, which will adopt "an ensemble format with several newsmakers, guests and contributors joining Eliot Spitzer each night."

"E.D. Hill will join the program as well as others within and outside the CNN family," Jautz said.

Parker will occasionally appear on CNN to "provide her insights and commentary," Jautz said.

"We thank Kathleen for her hard work and all that she has done to help us launch our new 8 p.m. program," Jautz said in a note to staff. "We respect her as a colleague and appreciate her perspective and contributions." http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/25/kathleen.parker.cnn/index.html
 
"I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writingsno longer be terrible on television," Parker said in a statement.
 
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When this show came out, did ANY of us think this would be a good idea? Any of us?

My background is, primarily, in TV. I think CNN is truly at the point where they would be better off showing 20-year-old episodes of "Moonlighting" or "L.A. Law" in the 8-9 ET/7-8 CT time slot. They just can't compete.

CNN is the network that simply quit evolving with the on-demand age and is still hoping to live off its reporting legacy from Desert Storm...20 years ago.
 
exmediahack said:
When this show came out, did ANY of us think this would be a good idea? Any of us?

My background is, primarily, in TV. I think CNN is truly at the point where they would be better off showing 20-year-old episodes of "Moonlighting" or "L.A. Law" in the 8-9 ET/7-8 CT time slot. They just can't compete.

CNN is the network that simply quit evolving with the on-demand age and is still hoping to live off its reporting legacy from Desert Storm...20 years ago.

Along those lines, Piers Morgan's show will ultimately be a train wreck.
 
Actually, what CNN should do is show CNN International, which is infinitely better than plain CNN or any other U.S. broadcast news operation. But the belief that Americans are both complete boobs and have wicked AHDD is the first principle of U.S. television.
 
Spitzer's much better than I thought he'd be.

Parker is well-advised to vamoose, though I'm virtually certain she was pushed, vehemently.
 
If she was pushed - - gently or vehemently - - I think someone did her a favor. The program was awful and it was not getting better with age.

She has the option to leave CNN and resume a perfectly healthy career as a writer. She is not my favorite, but she is not my least favorite either.

Spitzer, on the other hand, has fewer immediate options available should he choose to leave CNN - - or be asked to leave.
 
I've always enjoyed Kathleen Parker as a writer and the few times I've seen her 'interviewed'.

Being an interesting 'interviewee' and being a successful TV/radio host are two entirely different deals but that is often confused by ego-driven producers and managers determined to find the Next Big Thing.

Very, VERY few from "non-TV" backgrounds are great on television. PTI is the exception but Tony & Michael had been on ESPN Sports Reporters for a full decade before PTI hit. Look at the people who are very comfortable in the medium -- O'Reilly had been a TV host and reporter for 20 years before factor. Olbermann had been on TV - in major markets - from age 23 on.

I'll sit with Malcolm Gladwell and the 10,000 Hours Rule here. It takes years and years to be comfortable and strong on TV. I've been at it for 15 years in this idiotic, shrinking business and, somewhere around year 4 or 5...it simply clicked. Like when NFL QBs say, "yeah, the game just slowed down for me."

But until CNN gets someone already with the 10,000 Hours...it will likely be train wreck after train wreck. They finally realize that "personalities" and "opinion" equal ratings in prime time. They need to be willing to find the right people.
 
Michael_ Gee said:
Actually, what CNN should do is show CNN International, which is infinitely better than plain CNN or any other U.S. broadcast news operation. But the belief that Americans are both complete boobs and have wicked AHDD is the first principle of U.S. television.

Beat me to it.

Little wonder so many Americans seek out the BBC, the Economist, etc.
 
wicked said:
exmediahack said:
When this show came out, did ANY of us think this would be a good idea? Any of us?

My background is, primarily, in TV. I think CNN is truly at the point where they would be better off showing 20-year-old episodes of "Moonlighting" or "L.A. Law" in the 8-9 ET/7-8 CT time slot. They just can't compete.

CNN is the network that simply quit evolving with the on-demand age and is still hoping to live off its reporting legacy from Desert Storm...20 years ago.

Along those lines, Piers Morgan's show will ultimately be a train wreck.

Has anyone ever watched Piers Morgan's show? Every time I put the TV on to watch him it's on a commercial.
 
Sad to say, I've seen Morgan's show.

* He's incredibly full of himself
* He's always interrupting
* He's an insufferable suck-up. I always feel like the show's going to end with him making out with his guests. (It was particularly bad when he had on Howard Stern, Larry King, Hugh Hefner, and Charlie Sheen)
* His diction is horrendous. Hard to know what he's saying sometimes
 

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