It's Official: Piers Morgan to Replace Larry King

By PopEater Staff Posted Sep 8th 2010 11:47AM

CNN has made it official, announcing Wednesday that reality TV host and former tabloid editor Piers Morgan will replace the departing Larry King in the coveted 9PM time slot, according to The New York Times.

The British-born Morgan, currently a judge on NBC's 'America's Got Talent,' will debut the as-yet-unnamed interview show in January, a month after King signs off from the long-running 'Larry King Live,' which has aired for 25 years.

Jonathan Klein, the struggling network's president, informed staffers of the news in an upbeat internal memo. "We are delighted that he will now bring his dynamic, probing interview style to American television and to CNN viewers around the globe."

CNN and NBC worked out a deal to allow Morgan to continue his work on the popular 'Talent.' Before breaking into British television, Morgan was the editor of a tabloid, the Daily Mirror. He was fired after the newspaper published fraudulent photos of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.

Klein said that the final 'Larry King Live' will air Dec. 16, but its 76-year-old host will continue to host occasional programming for the network.

Morgan, 45, has been in talks with CNN since the summer about replacing King.

King dropped the bombshell in June that he was giving up his show. King made the surprising announcement via his Twitter account right before he taped that evening's program. "Announcing tonight: I'm ending my nightly show this fall but continuing at CNN," King wrote.

In a larger statement on CNN, King gave his reasons, which involved family but didn't mention his plunging ratings.

"I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end 'Larry King Live,' the nightly show, this fall, and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games."

The decision to leave the show came after months of declining ratings and media speculation about the future of King's career. The NY Times reported in March that the program was down about 50 percent in viewers and had seen its worst quarter ever at the start of the year.

Tags: cnn, larry king, Piers Morgan

Comments

(168)

Wednesday 08 September

By Mark

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Gee............ why didn't they just hire Paula Abdul?

By Pam

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When I first heard the possible replacements, I was glad to hear that Piers was a possibility. I think he'll make the show more interesting..I'm excited about! It certainly isn't like Jim carey replacing Bob barker..now that was the most ridiculous choice ever..(don't get me wrong I love Jim)..but not as a game host. I haven't watched the TPIR since his debut..GOOD LUCK PIERS!

By Juli

Anybody is better looking than Larry King.The only reason he had 5 wives is b/c of his money, as his latest wife found out.
And as for his job, it doesn't take an aironautics engineer to ask celebrities nosy questions. Ditto for Barbara Walters.

By Kurt

CNN couldn't make the right move even if their life depended on it!!! I haven't been back since they screwed Lou Dobbs, They are so yesterday!

By juli

Eric Severeid was from Canada also. And his phrases sounded like Shakesphere.

By lilbit280

What happened to my cutie pie Ryan Seacrest-
I know I know he def already wears a lot of hats but still he would have been a good fit Larry King thought so.

By Julie

why didn't they just hire Rosie O'Donnell.LOL or RoseAnn Bar or whatever her name is now. lol

By Tena

grrrr8est, I agree with you 100%. Piers Morgan is a Brit with a ton of wit and smarts. I never did like Larry King at all, but this should be worth watching.

I would venture to say that most of these "lost viewers" never watched in the first place.

By hedge

AGREE......Yeah! Piers is smart, witty and insightful. A GREAT choice after too many years of watching Larry King die a slow death. Piers will not sit silently by while his guests blow smoke up his skirt. He's as unstintingly honest and courageous as Simon Cowell. Can't wait!

By Mike

The guy's a jerk.

By scoval711

The show will last one more season. Then it's over. Ridiculous choice.

By stan edelman

Why have a British accented person replace a Brooklyn born, and New York accented guy like Larry King?
I totally refuse to accept such a replacement for my old Lafayette High School friend.

By craig

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The 'news' from CNN, HN, & AOL all SUCK. Same ol' recycled news, every 15 minutes, and over-sensationalized by their very opinionated 'newscasters'. Why can't they have reports that are fact-filled, without all the drama & personal opinions? I don't want to be entertained, I just want to hear the news....If I hear "Take a look", or "Take a listen" one more time....UGH!!! Why can't they have cool, calm, & collective reporting like National Public Radio?????

By MJinGA

They should have picked Drew Griffin. He's much more middle of the road, if not even a bit right leaning, and a great interviewer

By Nick Mayor

Bad choice. So haughty and arrogant.

By bob gomez

Lets see if I have this right. A guy who knowingly took and published false pictures can work at CNN as a journalist. So does that mean that Pedophiles would make great boy scout leaders

By jcole

76 year old geezer at his kids little league game. save your kid the embaressment dad and stay home on the porch

Count me out on watching Piers. King is a tough act to follow...will be hard to replace him with someone that would have the same disposition. Oh well!

By Shirley Holzmacher

I love Larry King and I hate to see him go. I never heard of his replacement, but I'll try it for a while. Larry King is irreplacible

By Owen

I don't care so much that Piers Morgan is a Brit - what bothers me is that he's such a sarcastic, nasty prick.

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