The UpshotCNN taps Piers Morgan to replace Larry King
CNN President Jon Klein informed staffers Wednesday that British journalist and "America's Got Talent" judge Piers Morgan will replace Larry King in January. King, who already announced his upcoming departure from prime time, wraps up his long-running 9 p.m. show on Dec. 16.
Klein's memo, obtained by The Upshot, puts to rest a seemingly endless string of reports and rumors about Morgan in talks for the job over the past few months.
"Most of us in the United States know Piers as the tough but playful judge on NBC's America's Got Talent, but he also has a long career in journalism in the UK, most recently as the host of the popular television interview program Piers Morgan's Life Stories," Klein wrote. "We are delighted that he will now bring his dynamic, probing interview style to American television and to CNN viewers around the globe."
Morgan, who gained fame stateside as winner of "The Apprentice," was a top British tabloid editor before a photo scandal cost him the top job at the Daily Mirror. He went on to become a best-selling author and TV star, while also writing for several British publications.
Even with the new gig, he'll continue writing for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, and start contributing columns to CNN.com.
Morgan said in a statement that he's a longtime King fan and "dreamed of one day filling the legendary suspenders of the man I consider to be the greatest TV interviewer of them all."
"I am thrilled to be joining CNN, and very much looking forward to bringing my own style of interviewing to the world's biggest, and best, TV news organization," Morgan said. "As a young journalist in Britain, I watched CNN's astonishing live coverage of the 1991 Gulf War, and felt enthralled by the courage and brilliance of the journalists involved in that coverage."
Klein, in a follow-up press release, called Morgan "a natural fit with Anderson Cooper, Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker" in prime time.
It's probably a good thing CNN is shaking things up at night. The network's ratings have dropped considerably in recent years, hitting a 10-year low in August.
On Tuesday, CNN rolled out a promotion clip of Kathleen Parker and Eliot Spitzer and announced that their 8 p.m. show, "Parker-Spitzer," will launch Oct. 4. The conservative columnist and former New York governor, respectively, replace Campbell Brown, who acknowledged her low ratings when resigning in May.
Anderson Cooper remains in the network's 10 p.m. slot.
(Photo of Morgan and King: CNN)
