But by Thursday, the audience for “Parker Spitzer” had grown nearly a quarter among younger viewers from its debut, Nielsen said. After its first night, it also started surpassing the audience for CNN’s 9 p.m. host, Larry King, among viewers between 25 and 54 years old, the most common target audience for news advertisers. As part of its turnaround, CNN is planning to replace the 76-year-old interviewer with Piers Morgan, a former British newspaper editor, in January.
“We weren’t in this for the first night,” Bart Feder, senior vice president of programming at CNN/US, said during an interview Friday. “We’re in this to launch and to let it grow. And we’re confident it will.”
Still, CNN is making gradual changes, with daily notes to the hosts and production staff. Some are cosmetic. By Thursday night, the hosts’ newspaper-strewn table was free of most detritus. A segment called “Our Political Party!” featured a bigger table that can accommodate six people without seeming cramped.
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