Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker bomb in ratings for CNN talk show premiere

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Eliot Spitzer may have a ways to go in his bid for TV stardom.

On Monday, the disgraced former governor of New York bombed in his new prime time CNN talk show with his co-host, the columnist Kathleen Parker. ‘Parker Spitzer’ drew a paltry 454,000 total viewers, according to the Nielsen Co.

That ranked dead last in the cable news race at 8 p.m., far behind Fox News’ ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ (3.1 million) and MSNBC’s ‘Countdown With Keith Olbermann’ (1.1 million). The premiere was even edged out by HLN’s Nancy Grace, who drew 468,000.

One yardstick for ‘Parker Spitzer’ is comparing it with ‘Campbell Brown,’ the news program it replaced. The premiere of Brown’s show two years ago drew 1.3 million viewers. Brown earlier this year left the network, complaining that her ratings were too low.

CNN, in the middle of a programming overhaul and executive reshuffling, is nevertheless sticking to its guns -- for now. ‘We are pleased with the quality of the show and over time we think viewers will be drawn to the more thoughtful discussion and lively debate that Kathleen and Eliot have to offer,’ a network spokeswoman said Tuesday.

--Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)