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Barker to Stay With ‘Price Is Right’

Jan 3, 2005  •  Post A Comment

Bob Barker, the host of CBS’s “The Price Is Right,” has agreed to continue to host the show for a 34th season, it was announced by Barbara Bloom, senior VP of daytime programs for CBS, and Syd Vinnedge of FremantleMedia North America. Mr. Barker’s decision comes after industry speculation that he might retire.

The current edition of “The Price is Right” premiered Sept. 4, 1972, on CBS and continues to be the longest-running game show in television history, with Mr. Barker the longest-running game show host. Mr. Barker began his game show career in 1956 as the host of “Truth or Consequences,” the same year “The Price is Right” first premiered on NBC with Bill Cullen as host. Mr. Cullen’s version of the show ran until the mid-1960s. The show was dormant until “Price” producers brought it back in 1972.

Mr. Barker has won a total of 17 Emmy Awards-13 as TV host (more than any other performer), three as executive producer of the game show, and the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for Daytime Television in 1999. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in June 2004.

“I was considering retiring this year and going into bodybuilding with the thought in mind of becoming governor of California,” Mr. Barker quipped. “But I decided instead to stay with the body I have and the job I have.”

“The Price Is Right” is a Mark Goodson Production, in association with FremantleMedia North America. Mr. Barker serves as executive producer, with Roger Dobkowitz as producer and Bart Eskander directing. The series airs weekdays at 11 a.m. (ET).