Campbell Brown Steps Down from CNN Show, Citing Ratings

CNN's Campbell Brown is ending her CNN show, and being blunt about the reason why.

"I knew on the day that I accepted my job at CNN that a ratings victory at 8 p.m. was going to be a formidable challenge. As I have been told over and over, this is the toughest timeslot in cable news," Brown said in a statement Tuesday. "Of course I pay attention to ratings. And simply put, the ratings for my program are not where I would like them to be. It is largely for this reason that I am stepping down as anchor of CNN's Campbell Brown."

Watch clips from CNN's Campbell Brown

Brown, who moved to CNN in 2008 after 11 years with NBC News, emphasized that the decision was her own, and said she didn't want to make excuses. "I could have said that I am stepping down to spend more time with my children (which I truly want to do). Or that I am leaving to pursue other opportunities (which I also truly want to do). But I have never had much tolerance for others' spin, so I can't imagine trying to stomach my own," she said. "The simple fact is that not enough people want to watch my program, and I owe it to myself and to CNN to get out of the way so that CNN can try something else."

Noting that Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace and Keith Olbermann dominate the 8 p.m. cable news hour, Brown said she could never "inhabit the kind of persona" necessary to compete with them. "It is not who I am or who I want to be; nor is it who CNN asked me to be at any point," Brown said. "While the rest of the cable news world moved to opinion, CNN allowed me to stay true to my hard-news roots and supported me with a true commitment to old-school journalism. There is plenty of debate now about whether real journalism even has a place in primetime."

It is still unclear as when Brown's last broadcast will be and what will replace the show.

"We respect her decision to leave," CNN President Jon Klein said in a statement. "We will announce our programming plans in the coming weeks."

Are you sad to see Brown go?