On a night occupied primarily with reruns except for breaking news and election coverage, CNN has decided to add one more encore to its Saturday lineup. This one will come from its corporate cousin HBO, as Real Time with Bill Maher will make its debut on Saturday, March 23, at 8 p.m. ET.
According to CNN, the encore episodes of Real Time will be special editions of the show following the episode premieres on HBO on Friday nights. The show will remain available live and on-demand on the streaming platform Max.
“The addition of Real Time With Bill Maher to CNN’s weekend primetime lineup marks the start of a commitment and investment into topical entertainment programming that we’re bringing to the weekends,” Amy Entelis, CNN executive vice president of talent, CNN originals and creative development for CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “We’ve seen that audiences enjoy Bill’s perspective and approach to news and information, and we’re looking forward to the show now being on CNN.”
CNN is no stranger to the Real Time franchise, as it previously aired Overtime, the post-show segment for Real Time, on Friday nights at 11:30 p.m. ET.
Overtime, which streams on YouTube, features Maher and his guests continuing the discussion and answering viewer questions following each week’s episode of Real Time. Topics include news of the day, culture, business, politics and more.
Overtime was a Chris Licht-led initiative, part of a programming attempt, according to a Los Angeles Times interview, to cast a wide net “ to help broaden the appeal” of CNN’s prime time.
The network has not indicated how long Real Time will occupy a slot on its weekend primetime lineup. Still, it offers a glimpse of the type of synergy that will be taking place between CNN and its corporate siblings within the Warner Bros Discovery stable when it comes to sharing programming that fits within CNN’s mold.