Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, few dominated the NBA like Charles Barkley – a fact that ultimately solidified his place in the basketball Hall of Fame.
But Barkley has made the most noise in his post-basketball broadcasting career, where he’s established a fearless reputation for being willing to say his piece on any topic.
And NBA legend Charles Barkley just teased a huge career move involving a major news network that no one saw coming.
Desperate for ratings
There’s simply no way to accurately describe the situation at CNN without fully admitting the once-proud news network has become a totally discredited dumpster fire.
Back in August, the New York Times released a report that showed CNN’s profits were set to drop below $1 billion for the first time since 2016.
That, of course, is a direct result of CNN’s tanking viewership numbers, which hit a nine-year low just last month.
The problems at CNN clearly run deep, and obviously, the network’s total lack of even a semblance of credibility and legitimacy are at the top of the list.
But a major problem CEO Chris Licht has hinted at wanting to solve is the fact that CNN doesn’t currently produce any content or have any “talent” people actually want to tune-in to watch.
Licht has made a few changes aimed at trying to reinvigorate CNN’s program lineup, including demoting former primetime host Don Lemon to be the third chair on a morning panel show.
Those changes haven’t exactly worked, though.
As The Wrap recently reported, in its first three months, Lemon’s new program has been the lowest-rated morning show produced by CNN over the past decade.
Reports also indicated that Licht is searching for some big names to build shows around in order to bolster CNN’s primetime lineup, including floating the idea of hiring a Jon Stewart or Trevor Noah-type to host a show for the network.
CNN is even experimenting with airing the 30-minute post-show program Bill Maher puts on after his HBO show Real Time at 11:30 PM every Friday night in hopes that his audience wants more from him and are willing to go to CNN to get it.
And apparently, they’re also now looking to add Charles Barkley to the mix.
“It’s a sh*t show”
Barkley told the New York Post on Thursday that CNN is currently in the process of working out how to bring him and CBS’ Gayle King together for a show.
“We don’t have anything set in stone,” Barkley told the Post. “I’m only considering it because of my respect for Gayle.”
On paper, CNN’s desire to bring Barkley into the mix makes more sense than it may seem at first glance.
Last year, he signed a new 10-year contract believed to be upwards of $200 million with CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery in order to continue with TNT’s popular Inside The NBA studio show each Tuesday and Thursday and be a part of Turner Sports’ March Madness coverage.
Along with playing a central role in the basketball programming, Warner Bros. Discovery planned for Barkley’s new contract to expand his role within the company to help add to their program offerings.
There is no entity within the company’s orbit that needs more help than CNN.
And Barkley is one of the few so-called “mainstream” celebrity voices who could potentially attract viewers who aren’t exclusively radical left-wing Democrats – if nothing else, he can certainly generate plenty of viral clips for social media.
The 1993 NBA MVP also didn’t hold back the fact that a primary motivator for even considering such a move is the fact that he wants to help Warner Bros. Discovery because CNN is “a sh*t show right now.”
“I just want to help the company because obviously it is a sh*t show right now,” Barkley said. “Anything I can do to help.”
While CNN may be hoping to make a big splash with Barkley and King, they do have a few hurdles to cross.
At the top of that list is the fact that King is currently under contract with CBS parent company Paramount Global and a deal would have to be worked out between the two companies for her to be free to join Warner Bros. Discovery and CNN.
On top of that, if Licht and the other executives at CNN are hoping for Barkley and King to fill a daily primetime slot – as was reported by some outlets – they may have another thing coming.
When asked about the idea of doing a daily show, the 60-year-old Barkley simply replied, “that is never going to happen.”
Chris Licht said he was trying to “cast a wide net” to find personalities who could help bring viewers back to CNN, thereby reversing the company’s financial woes.
And Charles Barkley would certainly be an outside-the-box hire who could create some buzz around CNN, albeit maybe not as much as executives would hope.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
