 Kathleen Parker, the co-host of "Parker Spitzer," CNN's four-month-old, ratings-challenged primetime show, has been dropped from the program, CNN announced on Friday. Effective Monday, the program will be renamed “In the Arena.” Several people will join Mr. Spitzer in the arena at 8 p.m. each night, including E. D. Hill and Will Cain and “others within and outside the CNN family,” the executive in charge of CNN/U.S., Ken Jautz, said in a memorandum on Friday afternoon. The roundtable format — with Spitzer, the former New York State governor and Parker, the conservative columnist — marked a shift to opinion-based programming for CNN, which had shunned the ideological fare favored by Fox News and MSNBC. I will continue to appear to contribute and analyze occasionally on CNN and look forward to continuing my relationship with CNN and the many talented individuals I have worked with here. Ms. Parker did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, but in a statement provided by CNN, she said, “I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writings.” 
 
 Last fall, she reduced her column schedule to once a week from twice a week. She continued in the statement, “While I am extremely proud of the show we created, and the subject matter and level of discourse ‘Parker Spitzer’ promoted every night, it was a difficult decision to scale back my column a few months ago and, with the show going in a new direction, it is a good time to move on.” 
 
 The new direction will try to feature many points of view, Mr. Jautz indicated in his message on Friday. Mr. Spitzer said in a statement that he wished Ms. Parker “all the best in continuing on with her spectacular career,” and added, “It has been a joy working with her as a teammate.” In her statement, she did not mention him. “Parker Spitzer” was conceived last fall by a CNN executive, Jonathan Klein, who was dismissed two weeks before it had its premiere.
– Parker Spitzer is no more. After weeks of rumors, CNN announced today that Kathleen Parker is leaving the 8pm show she co-hosted with Eliot Spitzer, reports the Wrap. The former governor will remain, and show will be renamed The Arena starting Monday. Joining Spitzer will be E.D. Hill and Will Cain, notes the New York Times' Media Decoder blog. The show had been plagued by lackluster ratings and reports of friction between the hosts since its inception last fall. The CNN statement from Parker, a Pulitzer-winning columnist with the Washington Post: "I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writings."