Anderson Cooper gets 8 p.m. slot on CNN

The man we call The Silver Fox is more in demand that ever.

With Eliot Spitzer’s In The Arena now canceled, Anderson Cooper’s nightly AC 360 program will air at 8 p.m. joining the fray in the most crowded hour in cable primetime broadcasting. [It will re-air again at 10 p.m. EST. On the West Coast, the show will air at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., sandwiching Piers Morgan Live].

“I’m looking forward to the new time slot and am excited to share AC360 with a new audience at 8pm, while still connecting with my regular viewers at 10pm,” Anderson said in a statement.

Here’s his direct competition: Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, Current’s Keith Olbermann and HLN’s Nancy Grace.

CNN has every reason to have confidence in Cooper who is a contributor to 60 Minutes and launches his own daytime syndicated show, Anderson, this fall.

The ratings for AC 360 have surged by 43 percent compared to a year ago.