THE (LIVE) KING IS DEAD; LONG LIVE THE (TAPED) KING

After weeks of rumors that he was about to end his CNN show because of plunging ratings and internal strife at the cable news network, Larry King posted this message on his Twitter account late today (Tuesday): “Announcing tonight: I’m ending my nightly show this fall but continuing at CNN.” He then broke the news to his staff via a conference call, which, in an interview with the Associated Press, he described as “one of the saddest ten minutes of my life.” A short time later, at the opening of his show, King told his audience that he had “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 [sic] to get to the kids’ Little League games.” He said that he planned to continue as “part of the CNN family, hosting several Larry King specials.” (Chicago Tribune TV columnist Phil Rosenthal quipped that King would remain with the news channel “in suspendered animation.”) King gave no specific date — or even a month — for his departure, but CNN has reportedly been talking to several possible replacements who could take over relatively quickly. Most often mentioned in the media speculation have been Piers Morgan, the America’s Got Talent judge and a former journalist, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, and CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. Asked by the Los Angeles Times whom he’d like to see as his replacement, King swiftly replied, “Ryan Seacrest,” then added, “If he knows his politics, I couldn’t think of a better person than him.”