Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s post-show segment OVERTIME is coming to CNN on Friday nights at 11:30 pm ET, beginning Feb. 3, CNN has announced in a press release..“OVERTIME features Maher and his guests continuing the discussion and answering viewer questions following each week’s episode of REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER. Topics include news of the day, culture, business, politics, and more,” says the release..Maher first appeared regularly on HBO in 1989 and has also starred in 12 HBO solo specials since then..“Recognized as having the ability to “consistently get people talking” and an “eclectic guest list,” Maher’s OVERTIME joins several other recent partnerships between HBO and CNN,” says the release..News start-up, Semafor reported, based on sources familiar with the matter, that network executives were considering a comedian to host a non-traditional program that could air in the 9 pm to 11 pm time slot. .Maher was one of the many faces considered, along with Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah and Arsenio Hall..CNN CEO Chris Licht threw cold water on reports the network was looking to introduce a comedy show during its prime-time hours in an interview published Monday..“No,” Licht said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I worked on a comedy show. And it took over 200 people to produce an actual comedy show. So no, I would not be so foolish as to, in one fell swoop, hurt the brand of comedy and news by trying to do a comedy show on CNN.”.Licht served as the executive producer for the late-night CBS program, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for six years before joining the network in May. He told The New York Times last year that he would gladly sign a contract with Stewart if it weren’t for the comedian’s legal agreement with Apple, the outlet reported. Stewart has hosted The Problem With John Stewart on AppleTV+ since 2021..Licht did say that he is “casting a wide net to help broaden the appeal of our prime time without offending our core audience of news junkies.”.He added CNN was in “conversations with culturally relevant individuals from the worlds of entertainment, sports and comedy who can bring fresh and unique perspectives to the news without offending “our core audience of news junkies.”.Over the last year, CNN’s rankings have tanked, hitting historically low levels in 2022, with the network averaging a little more than half a million viewers each day with just slightly over 120,000 in the key 25–54-year-old advertiser demographic. CNN’s profitability also sank below $1 billion in 2022 for the first time since 2016..It is expected CNN anchor Lauren Coates will remain in her current late-night position, covering breaking news events in the evening, with her fellow anchor, Alisyn Camerota, moving to an earlier time slot, sources told Semafor..CNN’s rival networks have also experimented with programs that mix entertainment and news, including Fox News’ Gutfeld! The conservative program, hosted by anchor Greg Gutfeld, offers a funny perspective of current events and has soared to be the No. 1 late night TV talk show.
