Larry King Will End CNN Show In Fall [UPDATE]

by Steve Krakauer | 7:39 pm, June 29th, 2010

» 39 comments

Larry King announced today, via his blog and Twitter page, that he would be ending his long-running iconic CNN show in the fall.

He will stay “part of the CNN family,” but now CNN will have a major prime time facelift in the wake of Campbell Brown leaving and Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker coming in.

King wrote on his blog (and he will say this tonight on the show at 9pmET):

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.

The news comes on the heels of King’s lowest-rated quarter ever. One of the names thrown around recently as a possible replacement has been reality show judge and British talk host Piers Morgan – a possibility CNN did not deny recently.

In a statement to staff, CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein wrote:

Larry King has asked that I share with you a message to his audience that will be broadcast tonight at the top of his show. After 25 years, Larry has decided to take a step back from the nightly grind. He wants to take some time for himself and his family. So he will end his run with Larry King Live on his own terms, sometime this fall.

He is not leaving CNN. Larry is a beloved member of the CNN family and he will continue to contribute to our air with periodic specials.

Larry has been a giant in the industry for as long as most of us can remember. Anyone who ever mattered has sat for an interview on Larry’s iconic set. They all know the man it is our privilege to call our colleague and friend–tireless and curious, respectful and inquisitive, caring, generous, influential, a citizen of the world.

We will celebrate his tenure in proper fashion over the coming months. Today is about Larry and about the beginning of a new chapter. It is not about good-bye.

Obviously, we’ll have much more on this soon.

> Update: How’s this for a reaction. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tweeted:

Larry King is a lovely, generous man who tried, for eight years, to convince his bosses to hire me to be his 8 PM lead-in at CNN.

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notsofast

Wrong headline.

“CNN will End LK Show in the Fall”
murf

No matter Larry’s ratings plunge, this cannot be good for CNN when he departs , looks like a ” Abandon Ship ! ” warning cry .
notsofast

Think what a leviathan CNN was during the 1st. Gulf war.

Now they are nothing.
Knowledge_Is_Power

I don’t believe for a second that Larry leaving was his idea! Not at all! I think this was pushed upon him by the bosses. They got rid of Campbell and now Larry. Do we have a big announcement to look forward to from Anderson Cooper next? I bet so.

I do hope that Larry enjoys his life with his sons and takes it easy once he leaves. It is really time for him to move on and enjoy the rest of his life.
ImNotBlue

In one way or another, no matter the story, KO always makes the story about KO.

Ugh.
murf

> Update: How’s this for a reaction. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tweeted:

Larry King is a lovely, generous man who tried, for eight years, to convince his bosses to hire me to be his 8 PM lead-in at CNN.

Then after they didn’t, I named Campbell Brown Worst Person In The World and trashed Larry King’s Mick Jagger special . OH the hypocrisy Keith Olbermann is !
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joshua-Stears/30802426 Joshua Stears

Or KO is saying that Larry King was a kind and generous guy that continuously tried to help him out, as a friend. But you go ahead and interpret in any way that makes you feel better about your unflinching hatred of a person.
notsofast

Update: How’s this for a reaction. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tweeted:

Larry King is a lovely, generous man who tried, for eight years, to convince his bosses to hire me to be his 8 PM lead-in at CNN.”

Yes, KO, but CNN has standards and MSNBC doesn’t!
felixw

Much better for King to set a timetable for departure, and retire in a dignified manner. He can do a victory lap, and leave on a high note. Kudos to him and CNN for handling this in a proper manner.
Big_F-ing_Deal

felixw said:
Much better for King to set a timetable for departure

I disagree. Timetables just allow the terrorists time to wait idly by until King is gone and then move in with full force.

WE SHOULD NEVER BROADCAST AN EXIT STRATEGY!!!!
ImNotBlue

Joshua Stears says:
June 29, 2010 at 7:54 pm

Are you really defending KO by attacking someone else as having “unflinching hatred?” Really?

KO who has an “unflinching hatred” of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Carrie Prejan, Joe the Plumber, John Gibson, and on and on and on and on?

REEEEEEALLY?
the real john t

Leave it to the Dollarite ImNotBlue to start attacking Olbermann right off the bat. Dollar has sure brainwashed him.
libra blue

“Larry King Will End CNN Show in Fall”, or CNN will end it for him. I only watch the show occasionally, but it seems to me that his numbers are the same if not better than 360′s. In fact, 360 often loses viewers from King’s show on a fairly regular basis. Does this mean 360 is next to get the ax?
http://PoliticalGlutton.com PoliticalGlutton

Growing up in Miami, I remember Larry King’s local sports call in show on WIOD. I would get through pretty regularly as a kid and it was quite a thrill to talk baseball with him. I continued to listen when he went to overnights with Mutual Radio and of course watched him on CNN, especially during the early days. While the time seems right for him to cut down his schedule, I can’t help at marvel how he rose to the top when so many other radio personalities of his era simply faded away. I tip my hat to Larry King. Love him or not, he has had an absolutely amazing career and is worthy of respect.
BatBoy

Finally CNN caught up with me….

I Ending the viewing of Larry King Live in my house about 10 years ago!
ImNotBlue

the real john t says:
June 29, 2010 at 8:56 pm

Leave it to John T to start talking about Johnny Dollar right off the bat. He sure is obsessed with that guy.

(PS- KO was mentioned in the update part of the story! See… relevance!)
timzank

the real john t said:
Leave it to the Dollarite ImNotBlue to start attacking Olbermann right off the bat. Dollar has sure brainwashed him.

Don’t you honestly think Olby tweeting that was tacky as hell?
notsofast

the real john t says:
June 29, 2010 at 8:56 pm the real john t

Looks like they let johnt out of his cell early tonight.
the real john t

ImNotBlue said:
He sure is obsessed with that guy.

Like you and the rest of the Dollarites are with Olbermann.
valkyrie101

This will be good for Larry. Fewer appearances will make his act seem more special. And he can select just winners.
ImNotBlue

the real john t says:
June 29, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Like you and the rest of the Dollarites are with Olbermann.

So you admit to being obsessed… or think that the “Dollarites” (which you haven’t proven I am) aren’t obsessed with KO?

Either way… you do notice that KO was featured in the story, right? You read that part… right?
the real john t

ImNotBlue said:
Either way… you do notice that KO was featured in the story, right? You read that part… right?

I just proved it little man. Yes he was featured at the end of it. But you went right after Olbermann and skipped over the rest of the article. And yes you are a one of Dollars 8 Dollarettes.
ImNotBlue

the real john t says:
June 29, 2010 at 9:36 pm

I just proved it little man.

You did? Where?

Yes he was featured at the end of it. But you went right after Olbermann and skipped over the rest of the article.

Oh, I didn’t know there was a requirement that I had to either talk about the entire article, or none of the article. Seems to me, that I spoke about the portion I found most interesting. I really don’t care much about King… his time has come and gone… the end.

Funny, though… I don’t recall seeing your comments about ANY part of the article.

And yes you are a one of Dollars 8 Dollarettes.

Really? And you know that, how?

Just how much time do you spend obsessively combing over every inch of that site? Yikes!
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

Well, I thought it was nice of Olbermann to say something about Larry, but the thing about how CNN had failed for not hiring Keith and perhaps implying that it may have hurt LKL’s ratings was self-centered and tacky as hell.
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

And @John T… When I was a kid, I’d lay in the bed and listen to Larry on the radio. He opened up worlds to me.

We’ve all known that Larry was going to someday end his show and I’m happy they are trying to package it as being on his own terms, but there will be other LKL posts for congratulations and there’s no way any Larry fan could’ve read the above without feeling anger toward Keith. After all, he didn’t bow before the King.
the real john t

Magister said:
After all, he didn’t bow before the King.

Was he supposed to?
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

@John T: Yes. Traditionally when someone announces their retirement, their friends, co-workers, competitors and customers offer congratulations and if their wife is present, they may do a lame joke about him being around the house.

They don’t usually say; “X was nice to ME” and though it could be acceptable to imply that if you weren’t competitors, instead if you played for the same team… but that’s usually after the congrats for a long, admirable and ground-breaking career.
the real john t

Magister said:
@John T: Yes. Traditionally when someone announces their retirement, their friends, co-workers, competitors and customers offer congratulations

OH! I see. like Hannity, O’Reilly and others did on Fox when Dan Rather retired.
Rogue-Comic

Rather didn’t retire; he just left the network due to a controversial Bush story. He has a show on HDnet now.
notsofast

OH! I see. like Hannity, O’Reilly and others did on Fox when Dan Rather retired.”

rather was forced out by CBS. Try again!
Newsjunky

How am I going to get horny at 9PM now?
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

@john t: I’m not going to get into a big back and forth on this subject, but if you’d like evidence, thus far in this thread the focus has quickly moved from the accomplishments of Larry King to some kind of whatever about Keith Olbermann.

Granted I’m also guilty of losing sight of the OP and though I’ve said that I started listening to Larry 40 years ago on the radio and am a longtime fan, even I have failed to properly register my congratulations for his illustrious career.
notsofast

Newsjunky says:
June 29, 2010 at 11:38 pm Newsjunky(Quote)
Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

How am I going to get horny at 9PM now?”

Rachel Maddow!
Ninja

Surprising we have multiple stories about Larry King but not a one about Daily Kos admitting to publishing inaccurate / doctored polls that slant to the left, Al Franken caught screwing around for the second straight day or the President finally accepting help from foreign countries in the Gulf.
the real john t

Magister, I’m not condemning Larry King. I always liked his show, although I didn’t watch it that often. But when I did I enjoyed it.
http://www.karlspensen.blogspot.com Karl Spensen

Keith Olbermann is a dick.
http://www.karlspensen.blogspot.com Karl Spensen

No sarcasm or irony intended. Screw him and his gigantic head. In the words of Jon Stewart, “YOU’RE NOT HELPING!”
Rogue-Comic

If CNN, or MSNBC, were smart they’d go after Rather to host a prime-time pundit show. How about Dan Rather taking over for Larry King?

I don’t care for Olbermann either, and as far as him being a “dick,” its ironic how his ratings started their massive decline right about the same time he started twittering.
jfkelly0120

About time. But enough about the crypt keeper. On to more important things. Have you accepted the round-headed one as your personal savior? If not, the time is now. The little mank with a head like a f’ing orange is waiting. http://www.rickygervais.com/karlpilkington.php