CNN Is Canceling Politics Show 'John King, USA'

CNN, which has been battered in the ratings game, announced today that it was canceling its politics show "John King, USA."

Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" will expand to three hours at the end of this month to cover the gap.

The New York Times reports:

"Ken Jautz, the executive in charge of CNN, said in an internal memo that the schedule change was made to improve political coverage this year. Mr. King will be the network's top campaign correspondent for the remainder of the presidential election cycle. He had a similar role during the 2008 presidential election cycle.

"'This is John's seventh presidential campaign, fourth with CNN, and making him available across our programming lineup allows us to better tap his skills and experience, especially on the ground reporting in major battleground states and among critical voting blocs,' said Mr. Jautz, referring to Mr. King."

As The Hollywood Reporter puts it, a lineup change for the network was expected. In May the network saw the lowest primetime ratings its had in 20 years.

The Hollywood Reporter says that last month Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent said he remained "very unhappy" with the ratings.

"We have some shows that probably need to be replaced," The Reporter quotes Kent as saying. "We haven't put the best shows on the air."

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.