Although, Piers Morgan is known primarily in the U.S. as a judge on "America's Got Talent," and for winning the first season of "The Celebrity Apprentice," he first got his start as a journalist in his native Britain as a tabloid editor. Morgan will get the chance to show off his interviewing skills and journalistic abilities when he takes over for Larry King on CNN with an as of yet unnamed new show that will premiere in Jan. 2011.
The news comes after months of rumors and speculation, with a deal between Morgan and CNN all but secured not long after King announced his retirement back in June. The move comes after CNN has seen a sharp decline in ratings across the board, particularly with their primetime shows including "Larry King Live" and "Anderson Cooper 360," that consistently get beat by their competitors over at FOX News and MSNBC. This led to Campbell Brown stepping down from her eponymous show which anchored the lineup, back in May. It was announced soon after that her show would be replaced by a roundtable discussion program headed by former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer and conservative journalist Kathleen Parker, appropriately (if uncreatively) titled "Parker Spitzer," which will premiere on Oct. 4.
Whether Larry King decided to leave the network voluntarily or was pushed out, the often acerbic Piers Morgan was chosen by CNN in hopes of reinvigorating the format, and bringing in a younger audience with his much more direct approach. In the UK, Morgan has been known to get celebrities to reveal intimate details about their personal lives, and has a penchant for reducing interviewees to tears. He has also stated in the past that he dislikes chat shows that feature celebrities that are only on to promote their latest project.
Morgan is expected to stay on as judge of "America's Got Talent" for now. He also appears as a judge alongside Simon Cowell in "Britain's Got Talent."
Larry King will film his last set of shows in Dec. before stepping down, with Piers Morgan taking over come the new year.
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