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Larry King Announces He’ll Quit ‘Larry King Live’ This Fall; Will Do Specials, Spend Time With Wife and Kids

Jun 29, 2010  •  Post A Comment

Talk show icon Larry King, 76, sent a brief tweet earlier today that he’s quitting his long-running CNN show.

Later he released this statement:

Before I start the show tonight, I want to share some personal news with you. 25 years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of "Larry King Live."

Now, decades later, 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.

I’ll still be a part of the CNN family, hosting several "Larry King" specials on major national and international subjects.

I’m incredibly proud that we recently made the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot. With this chapter closing I’m looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it’s time to hang up my nightly suspenders.

Jon Klein, president of CNN U.S. said, according to the CNN website, that King "[W]ill end his run with "Larry King Live" on his own terms, sometime this fall. Larry is a beloved member of the CNN family and will continue to contribute to our air with periodic specials."

However, it’s been widely reported for weeks that CNN has been looking for a replacement for King, and just this week it was reported that Katie Couric, whose contract is expiring at CBS, turned down the job.

Furthermore, King’s personal life has been in turmoil. He and his wife had filed for divorce and then reconciled. Earlier this month it was reported that King’s wife, Shawn, was recovering from taking too much prescription medicine on May 28, and that a police report said she had ingested the medicine intentionally.

According to Mediaite, King’s show at 9pm (ET/PT) just finished its worst quarter ever, in both total viewers and the A25-54 demographic.

2 Comments

  1. Can’t wait for those Larry King Specials…

  2. Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!

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