Cooper, who recently signed a new deal with the Time Warner-owned cable-news outlet, is entrenched at the network, and is already the anchor of its 8 p.m. hour. Staffers on “AC360 Later,” which debuted in September, are expected to be absorbed into other positions at the network.

Removal of the program from the lineup illustrates the ongoing experimentation at work behind CNN’s primetime schedule, which CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker has indicated is ripe for shakeup due to flailing viewership.  CNN has been running documentaries at 10 p.m. on recent Thursday nights and tested a panel show, “The Point,” featuring ad man and TV personality Donny Deutsch last Spring.

While executives at the network were said to be pleased with the ratings for “AC360 Later,” which featured Cooper and a panel of different talking heads, the program never became a regular feature.