Bill Maher is coming to CNN.
The host of HBO’s weekly late night series Real Time will bring his Overtime segments to the cable news channel beginning Friday, Feb. 3.
Overtime will air on CNN at 11:30 p.m. on Friday nights, after new episodes of Real Time debut on HBO on Fridays at 10 p.m.
Maher has been producing Overtime segments for years. An offshoot of the HBO show, the segments feature Maher and his panel of guests continuing to discuss newsy topics. The segment previously only streamed online. With the CNN deal, it will now also get a linear basic cable home.
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The Maher move is also another example of Warner Bros. Discovery looking for ways to share programming even as it continues to shave off costs. Already some CNN programming has found its way to HBO Max and Discovery+, while CNN has hosted guests from other parts of the corporate empire (like chef Bobby Flay, who talked inflation and soaring food costs on a live segment).
And while Maher is not a journalist, Overtime also gives CNN a foot in the door to a genre of programming that isn’t quite news but isn’t quite comedy, suggesting CNN is open to shows outside of the “anchor at the desk” or “correspondent in the field” format. At Fox News, for example, two of the most popular shows have been the afternoon panel show The Five and the late night comedy show Gutfeld.
And while Overtime is more of a comedy show than a news show, it won’t really find itself in any meaningful competition with the other late night programs (including CNN CEO Chris Licht’s last TV home as executive producer of CBS’ Late Show). With Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel almost always running reruns on Friday nights, there might be an opening for something original at 11:30 p.m.
