In the Arena
| In the Arena | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Parker Spitzer (October 4, 2010 — February 25, 2011) |
| Created by |
Eliot Spitzer Kathleen Parker |
| Presented by | Eliot Spitzer (October 4, 2010 — July 6, 2011) Kathleen Parker (October 4, 2010 — February 25, 2011) E.D. Hill (February 28, 2011 — August 5, 2011) Will Cain (February 28, 2011 — August 5, 2011) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CNN |
| Picture format |
480i (16:9 letterbox SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | October 4, 2010 – August 5, 2011 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
In the Arena is an American one-hour show on CNN that premiered October 4, 2010 as Parker Spitzer and was hosted by former New York Democratic governor Eliot Spitzer and Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Kathleen Parker. It was broadcast weeknights in prime time at 8 p.m. ET, replacing Campbell Brown in the same time slot. The show received consistently low ratings and there were reports of backstage fighting between Spitzer and Parker. On February 25, 2011, CNN announced that Parker had parted ways with the show to continue her work on her syndicated column but would continue to contribute to CNN. Spitzer remained on the show and the title was changed to In the Arena effective February 28. The show was canceled by CNN on July 6, 2011. The cancellation was effective August 8, 2011, when CNN went on to broadcast its flagship nightly news program AC360, anchored by Anderson Cooper, live at 8 pm and re-air it in its current time slot of 10 pm.
In an interview published by The Hollywood Reporter, newly appointed CNN President Ken Jautz said the network was relying heavily on Parker Spitzer and on Piers Morgan replacing Larry King Live to raise ratings with "livelier and more engaging" programming. When asked what kind of ratings improvement he would consider a success, Jautz simply replied, "Higher." On the show's main news blog, it states that it has the goal of facilitating a "dynamic exchange of opinions, ideas and analyses... on the most important, compelling and amusing stories of the day".
Spitzer has remarked, "We'll talk about movies sometimes, sports, we'll have everything under the sun, but we are clearly a political show." A recurring segment in the program is a challenge to legislators called "Name Your Cuts", about the U.S. national debt.
The show premiered to poor ratings, finishing fourth place among cable news programs in its time slot. Among people from ages to 25 to 54, the show garnered 118,000 viewers compared to 722,000 for The O'Reilly Factor. Spitzer remarked in response,
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