Larry King's final show sets unprecedented record

The interviewer’s final edition of “Larry King Live” was watched by an average of 2.24 million viewers on Thursday, according to The Nielsen Company, Media Decoder reported.

That’s about three times as many viewers as he usually registers, and it was enough to beat his competitors on Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

Mathieu Young/CNN, via European Pressphoto Agency Larry King beat his competitors in the ratings on Thursday, his final show.
Viewers tuned in on Thursday to see a roster of Mr. King’s well-wishers, including former President Clinton, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Regis Philbin, and Tony Bennett. The audience skewed toward older demographics: only 530,000 of the 2.24 million viewers were between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic favored by cable news advertisers.

Mr. King ratings have dropped sharply in recent years, putting pressure on CNN to reprogram the time slot. Mr King announced in June that he was stepping down.

On Friday afternoon, CNN announced that the replacement for “Larry King Live,” “Piers Morgan Tonight,” will start on Jan. 17. For the rest of December, CNN will have encores of Mr. King’s program; in early January, it will have Anderson Cooper anchor the hour.