Media Life Magazine - Enter 'John King USA,' and a new era

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Enter 'John
King USA,' and a new era

Former 'State of the Union' host slides into the slot

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Mar 22, 2010

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Four months after Lou Dobbs abruptly exited CNN, heeding the "call of America" to do goodness knows what, his replacement is finally ready to launch.

The new politically focused show "John King USA" debuts tonight at 7 p.m. on CNN, with former "State of the Union" host King taking a daily look at what's going on in Washington and how those issues will affect average Americans.

On Friday CNN aired a live web stream of "USA's" final dress rehearsal to whet people's appetites, and King predictably has a Twitter feed, where he invited followers to guess the name of the show earlier this month, unspooling clues every couple days.

But King will need more than gimmicks to succeed at 7 p.m.

Dobbs' viewership had fallen over recent years, as have ratings for CNN after the huge lift they received covering the 2008 elections.

CNN's primetime lineup of Campbell Brown, Larry King and Anderson Cooper fell a collective 57 percent among adults 25-54 in February versus the previous year, according to Nielsen data crunched by parent Turner.

CNN fell behind MSNBC, CNBC (buoyed by the Olympics) and even sister network HLN into fifth place among the cable news channels, and all three hosts hit series lows during the month. Thus any boost John King can bring to the 7 p.m. lead-in spot would be welcome.

As for Dobbs, not much has been heard from him after he said in November that he's mulling a run for office. He continues to host a daily radio show and he's soliciting premium memberships to his group, Independent America, on his web site.

At some point presumably Dobbs will burst forth, fulfilling plans to run for elected office, and presumably King will be faced with the choice of whether to invite Dobbs on "USA" talk up his campaign.

It would sure be an entertaining hour of television.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, MARCH 22
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	Season premiere. Pamela Anderson, Kate Gosselin, Erin Andrews and Chad Ochocinco are among this season’s dancers.
8 p.m.	ABC Family	“Secret Life of the American Teenager” (D)	Season finale. The season finishes up with John celebrating his first birthday.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Two and a Half Men” (C)	Alan has an effect on one of his patients.
9 p.m.	CW	“Gossip Girl” (D)	Lily tells Rufus her secret and Chuck has to make a decision about the hotel.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: Miami” (D)	Horatio’s son returns from serving overseas.
10 p.m.	FX	“Damages” (D)	Turmoil hits Ellen’s family, and Frobisher begins making his movie.
10 p.m.	Showtime	“Nurse Jackie” (C)	Season premiere. Uh-oh—the hospital discovers some narcotics are missing.
TUESDAY, MARCH 23
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Jennifer Love Hewitt guests.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	The final group gives more performances.
8 p.m.	NBC	“The Biggest Loser” (R)	The players try to keep their diets going while at home for a while.
9 p.m.	TLC	“19 Kids and Counting” (R)	Joseph and Josiah come back home to work on the house.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Parenthood” (D)	Adam and Kristina try to find out who Haddie’s dating.
10 p.m.	FX	“Justified” (D)	Raylan tries to find a prisoner who escapes while out performing with the prison band.
10 p.m.	Oxygen	“Bad Girls Club” (R)	Perez Hilton hosts the second part of a reunion episode.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Nuggets take on the Celtics in Boston.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	Tonight two castaways will be eliminated.
8 p.m.	CW	“ America’s Next Top Model” (R)	The models take part in a dance-themed photo shoot.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Phil and Claire try to help the kids with school projects.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	After tonight’s elimination we’ll be down to the top 10.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Real World” (R)	Mike’s boyfriend visits, and not everyone’s happy about it.
10 p.m.	SOAPnet	“Being Erica” (D)	Dr. Tom remembers the last time he saw his daughter.
THURSDAY, MARCH 25
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	The first night of Sweet Sixteen matchups, aka all the teams that busted your bracket.
8 p.m.	CW	“The Vampire Diaries” (D)	Damon participates in a bachelor raffle for a fundraiser.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	The workers go to happy hour, and Michael gets bounced from the bar.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	A patient tells Teddy he wants to die.
10 p.m.	TLC	“LA Ink” (R)	Kat steps in between Adrienne and Liz.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Project Runway” (R)	The designers compete in a challenge with a technology theme.
FRIDAY, MARCH 26
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	The second half of this season’s Sweet Sixteen matchups.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Who Do You Think You Are?” (R)	Matthew Broderick looks into his family history.
8 p.m.	Cartoon Network	“Ben 10: Alien Force” (K)	Season finale. Ben tries to save the planet by battling Vilgax without any powers.
8 p.m.	Disney Channel	“Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars” (M)	The classic book gets a modern spin: Harriet wants to become her high school class’s official blogger.
9 p.m.	DIY	“ Man Caves” (R)	A guy turns his garage into a ‘60s-style library.
10 p.m.	Starz	“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (D)	Numerius takes control of the gladiators for his 15th birthday.
SATURDAY, MARCH 27
Time	Network	Program	Description
2:30 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
4:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	The first of two regional finals in the NCAA tournament.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Houston chase a donut shop robber.
9 p.m.	Syfy	“Dark Relic” (M)	In the year 1099, a demon escapes from a Holy Land relic.
9 p.m.	ESPNU	“College Hockey” (S)	Back-to-regional finals in the NCAA hockey tournament.
11 p.m.	USA	“WWE Hall of Fame Induction” (S)	The 2010 class is honored in Phoenix.
SUNDAY, MARCH 28
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	Fox	“NSACAR Racing” (S)	A Sprint Cup race in Martinsville, Va.
2 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	The two more regional finals, setting up next weekend’s Final Four.
8 p.m.	Fox	“The Simpsons” (C)	Flanders and the Simpsons take a trip to Jerusalem.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Undercover Boss” (R)	Tonight the CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment goes undercover.
9 p.m.	HBO	“The Pacific” (D)	After receiving a Medal of Honor, Basilone doesn’t want to sell war bonds.
10 p.m.	AMC	“Breaking Bad” (D)	Saul convinces Jess to take an investment opportunity.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.