Charles Barkley, Gayle King Announce New CNN Show Called 'King Charles'

Some interesting rumors popped up earlier this year that CNN was interested in the services of one Charles Barkley. The network presumably wants to utilize Barkley's draw to help with ratings. It's really the only explanation for why a news network would want to tap a basketball personality for his own show.

On Saturday, Gayle King appeared with Barkley during TNT's pregame coverage of Sixers-Nets and the pair announced that they would be hosting a new show called "King Charles" that will air in the fall. It will air on Wednesday nights in primetime.

The Inside The NBA crew then hosted a brief roundtable in which Barkley and King were asked questions about what the show will look like. Barkley said he wants it to be "non-political" and King jumped in to note that they will be talking about politics. Barkley clarified that he doesn't want it to lean to either side of the political isle and that it'll be a straightforward discussion of the issues at hand. King said they're going to have good conversations without tearing people down. They then pivoted into a rather solemn discussion about the rash of mass shootings in America, perhaps giving a glimpse at what "King Charles" will cover.

Video of the announcement is below:

And here's the official internal announcement from CNN.

We will see how this goes. Barkley has a lot of fans but people watch him because of basketball, not politics. Maybe he'll have the same ratings draw in that sphere. Maybe King's presence will give the show a high floor in terms of viewership. Either way, we'll be getting more Barkley than ever later this year.