Charles Barkley is indeed heading to CNN.
After a couple of months of reporting that the Inside the NBA co-host was in talks to join the network, news broke Saturday that Barkley would be teaming up with Gayle King to host a weekly primetime live show. The show will be called King Charles.
The program will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. starting in the fall and run into 2024.
There will be political discussions on the show, and Barkley said he hopes to have honest, insightful talks on various topics.
“All I want is people, even if I disagree with them, to be honest with me,” he said. “I don’t want them saying things to get clickbait. That is one of the things that is what drives me crazy about people in our profession right now.”
Both Barkley and King will continue in their respective current TV roles in addition to hosting the weekly CNN show. King is a host and presenter on CBS Mornings, while Barkley comprises part of the award-winning NBA studio show at TNT.
But Charles has indicated he’s only doing the show because he respects King so much. Barkley wants to retire from broadcasting in the near future. Despite signing a 10-year contract with Warner Bros. Discovery last year, Barkley has stated publicly he wants to stick around to get WBD in the best position possible when it comes to the next NBA media rights deal.
