Why CNN canned Eliot Spitzer: 6 theories

The scandal-stained former New York governor gets the boot, and the challenging 8 p.m. timeslot goes to Anderson Cooper

Eliot Spitzer quotes Theodore Roosevelt as he signs off as host of CNN's "In The Arena," a short-lived show that seemed to struggle from day one.
(Image credit: Screen shot, CNN.com)

As part of "a big shakeup of CNN's troubled primetime lineup," the cable news network has cancelled Eliot Spitzer's In the Arena. Spitzer's show, which long struggled in the ratings, was originally a duet with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker. In February, CNN ditched Parker, and reformatted the show as a Spitzer solo act. But the program continued to flail, and Wednesday night's show was the last for the former crusading New York governor felled in 2008 by a prostitution scandal. Why did Spitzer have such a hard time finding a big audience, and what led CNN to give him the boot? Here, six theories:

1. 8 p.m. is cursed

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