Elliott Spitzer's Show Cancelled By CNN

CNN bounced Eliot Spitzer from its prime-time lineup on Wednesday. The former governor of New York, and prostitute aficionado, had been with the network since last October. Initially, he was paired with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker on "Parker/Spitzer." After Parker left in February, the show was renamed "In the Arena," featuring Spitzer as the lead personality. The cancellation opens up a spot for CNN newcomer and former CNBC star Erin Burnett's new show and will allow Anderson Cooper 360 to move into the 8 p.m. time slot. According to reports, the network has asked Spitzer about staying on as a commentator, but no agreement has been reached. Spitzer released a statement today speaking about his time with CNN in the past tense. "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 thoroughly enjoyed my time at CNN." Spitzer's show averaged around 595,000 viewers over the first 6 months of the year. This compares to just under 3 million for Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News and 984,000 for Lawrence O'Donnell's program on MSNBC, both of which air during the same time slot. "In The Arena" was actually up 8% over CNN's programming for that time slot over the same six-month period in 2010, but the audience trends were not heading in the right direction. Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN/US said "There has been improvement for that show but we wanted to see it do more. We wanted to see it do better." The new CNN lineup will feature Wolf Blitzer's two-hour "Situation Room" from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. John King's show will move up an hour to 6 p.m. and will be followed by Burnett's new show, which is expected to debut in late September. Next, will be the popular Anderson Cooper 360 in the competitive 8 p.m. time slot. Cooper's show will be followed by Piers Morgan in his regular 9 p.m. slot.