John McEnroe’s struggling talk show has been canceled by CNBC after five months of failing to find an audience on the business news channel’s prime-time lineup.

The move was expected (TelevisionWeek, Nov. 29). “McEnroe” will end its run at the end of the year.

“McEnroe” averaged 81,000 viewers in November, according to Nielsen Media Research. It will be replaced in late January by “The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch,” which averaged 48,000 viewers in November. “Cover to Cover,” an hour of repurposed NBC News programming hosted by CNBC’s Liz Claman, will fill “McEnroe” hours until ad man Mr. Deutsch, who currently appears at 8 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday, makes the time-slot switch.

Only the day before last Thursday’s bad news for “McEnroe,” CNBC learned that its Washington bureau chief of nearly three years, Alan Murray, will return to The Wall Street Journal as assistant managing editor. CNBC had replaced “Capital Report,” the show he co-hosted, with repeats of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”