Chris Wallace has not had much success attracting an audience since leaving Fox News and joining CNN in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, but CNN executives continue to grant him opportunities.
Mediaite reports that the network is moving Wallace from his Sunday time slot to a new Friday prime time position.
The network announced that new episodes of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” on HBO Max and CNN would continue to be made available for streaming on Friday mornings. According to reports, the CNN “Best of” segment of the program would move to Friday nights at 10 PM.
“CNN announced today that Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? will return for its third season on HBO Max and CNN on Friday, April 28. The best of the full HBO Max interviews will continue to air on CNN, beginning April 28 at 10pm ET/PT,” the network noted in a press release sent to Mediaite.
The program is renowned for its comprehensive and eclectic format, which includes in-depth interviews with a variety of guests from the realms of popular culture, politics, and current events. In addition to its extensive coverage, the program includes biographical elements and frequently features Wallace singing in segments.
The network has announced that newsmakers and personalities will be featured in upcoming programming.
As the 2024 election cycle approaches, Wallace will conduct interviews with prominent policymakers and presidential candidates, drawing on his more than 50 years of political experience and addressing pressing national issues. Carol Burnett, Bill Hader, Jay Leno, Andy Garcia, Miranda Lambert, and many others to be announced in the coming weeks, are among the most anticipated guests for the impending third season. Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? will be available on Max when it launches in the United States on May 23.
“We’re thrilled that the CNN audience will now get to see these newsmaking interviews the same day that they are available on HBO Max,” a spokesperson for the show told Mediaite.
The outlet claimed that Wallace’s program “performed well on Sundays,” but this is relative; the network’s overall ratings have plummeted and it now trails cable news powerhouse Fox News by a wide margin.
The final week of January was the worst since the program’s premiere in spring 2022.
For the entire month of January, “Wallace’s show averaged only 365,000 viewers. Even worse, in advertisers’ coveted 25-54 demographic, his struggling program pulled in a putrid average of just 48,000 viewers,” the Western Journal reported.
Wallace’s program was originally scheduled to air on CNN+, the network’s $300 million subscription streaming service that flopped about a month after its launch.
The Washington Examiner also reported that on a particular Sunday, Wallace’s program only garnered approximately 323,000 viewers and 38,000 in the 25-54 demographic.
The Western Journal subsequently added:
It appears that Wallace cannot triumph by losing these days. It is not that people are not watching Sunday news programs. Consider the former Republican representative Trey Gowdy’s Sunday Fox News broadcast as evidence. According to US TVDB, “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy” averaged over one million viewers in January. Gowdy approximately doubled the number of viewers in the 25-54 age bracket that Wallace attracted.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
CNN continued to struggle mightily, with few of its shows really gaining much traction, including the recently revamped morning show. CONTINUE READING…
