One of CNN’s most familiar faces will be leaving the network entirely. After the end of Larry King Live, which went off the air back in December, Larry King had planned to stay on at CNN to host at least four specials a year. But it appears he has changed his mind – or CNN did – and he’s broken ties with the network for good.
Larry King was one of those people you felt would be on the air forever, like Dick Clark hosting New Year’s Rockin’ Eve from Times Square. I always kind of figured Larry would stay on the air to his final breath. And get great ratings for it too. At nearly 80 years old though, Larry has decided to move on to “wonderful business opportunities” that are apparently in his future. I guess quiet retirement is not the plan.
Larry King has been a fixture on CNN since the 1980s and was the news network’s biggest ratings draw, with his talk show airing up to three times a day and around the world. Those famous suspenders and an even more famous series of marriages made Larry a household name, and his interview style got him some guests others might not have managed. CNN has replaced Larry King Live with Piers Morgan Tonight, which just started airing in January. Those are some seriously big suspenders to fill.
According to the Hollywood Reporter the decision to end the relationship between King and the network was a mutual one, but that would have to be the story. Either way, we won’t be seeing King on CNN again, at least until he does something newsworthy.
