Immediately after Larry King announced that he will retire from his daily CNN show, CBS News grabbed an interview with King and asked who he would pick to take over. Surprisingly, King answered the question.
“If it was up to me, I’d have Ryan Seacrest do it,” King told CBS News.
Of course, it’s not up to him, but Seacrest is one of the names most prominently mentioned as a successor for the primetime show that King has hosted for 25 years. If he were to do a nightly TV show, Seacrest would no doubt have to give up his morning radio show for Clear Channel, which originates from KIIS-FM Los Angeles. Trying to do daily radio and TV ground King down after a few years, resulting in his decision to quit doing radio in 1994, and the time slots for the two shows were more compatible than what Seacrest would face. Besides he makes so much money from hosting “American Idol” on Fox that he wouldn’t need to radio income to pay his mortgage.
Who else is being mentioned to fill Larry King’s suspenders? Katie Couric recently took herself out of the running. Anderson Cooper and John King, both already at CNN, have been mentioned as possibilities. Also Joy Behar of ABC’s “The View.”
If you think you’ve got what it takes, we can only suggest that you send an audition tape to Jonathan Klein, President of CNN/United States.
RBR-TVBR observation: If you work at Clear Channel in LA, let us know if Ryan starts showing up for work wearing suspenders.
