CNN boss Chris Licht is reportedly plotting changes to the network’s primetime slots and one of the significant moves that could come is bringing in a comedian.
Licht wants CNN to have its version of John Oliver or Jon Stewart. In the reporting done by Semafor, the likely candidate could be Bill Maher; however, former MSNBC and podcaster Keith Olbermann believes the “Real Time with Bill Maher” host would be a bad idea.
“The issue here is Bill Maher has also gradually wasted nearly all of his reputation with liberals as well,” Olbermann said on his most recent episode of the “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” podcast. “They may not abhor him the way the conservatives do, but he stopped being appointment viewing for liberals perhaps as long as a decade ago. Also, if the quality of the humor in his once-a-week HBO show is an indicator, putting him on nightly on CNN starting, say, next Monday, [it] would mean he would be out of material by next Thursday, maybe next Wednesday.
“I also know Bill for literally 45 years, and I used to be on his HBO show often. And he invariably told me that the best thing that ever happened to him was getting canceled on ABC, getting away from having to do a TV show daily, that six days of prep for one show was a tough enough ratio for him.”
It’s all speculation from Semafor’s reporting, so there’s no confirmation that this is the direction CNN will take as Licht puts his stamp on the network. Nonetheless, Licht did work with Stephen Colbert, who used to do the “Colbert Report” on Comedy Central.
However, Olbermann cautions that if Maher wants to do a daily show, there’s no evidence he’d draw an audience because HBO doesn’t provide ratings for their programs.
“And lastly, while it is assumed that people actually watch Bill Maher show, there is no proof of this,” Olbermann added. “HBO does not produce ratings for the programs it puts on TV. It is not in the ratings business. It is in the subscription business, as I suggested just now. We don’t know how many people watch Maher.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
