"Anderson Cooper 360" moved to its new 8 p.m. timeslot in CNN’s reconfigured prime-time lineup last week, taking over the spot previously filled by the canceled "In the Arena" show hosted by Eliot Spitzer. It was a rough start for Cooper’s show, which drew lower viewer numbers than its predecessor, reports TVNewser.com.

Cooper averaged 502,000 total viewers, lower than the 599,000 total viewers averaged by Spitzer during the second quarter, the story says. During Spitzer’s last quarter on CNN, however, the time period included two presidential addresses, two special editions of Piers Morgan and CNN’s New Hampshire GOP debate.

"It is the dead of summer, but considering the busy news week on Wall Street and in politics, it could be a rough climb for ‘AC360’ at 8 p.m. — cable news’ most-watched hour," the article says.