Larry King has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past few weeks. First reports of the attempted suicide of his wife Shawn and then the news that CNN is in talks with Piers Morgan of America's Got Talent, to replace him.
First the latest developments in the Shawn King story: Reuters is reporting:
"The wife of TV personality Larry King attempted suicide late last month in Utah by overdosing on prescription drugs as she battled depression, according to a police report made public on Thursday.
The report, which was posted at celebrity news website TMZ.com, describes an officer with the Provo, Utah police, entering 50 year-old Shawn King's residence on May 2, going to a bedroom where paramedics were treating her and seeing "multiple pill bottles, all of which were empty on the bed."
The report noted "scriptures, a purse, other various books" and a letter "which appeared to be a note left by the victim.
"It is unknown whose writing this letter was in, however wording on the letter led me to believe that (King) had intentionally taken the quantity of pills," the officer wrote in the report, which is labeled "attempted suicide."
Labels on the bottles indicated multiple drugs including Ambien, Klonopin and Clonazepam, and many of them were empty, according to the report.
One witness told police that Shawn King "is always depressed, but she had not mentioned anything that she would want to hurt herself or take her own life."
As unconfirmed reports of the drug overdose began surfacing in the media on Wednesday, CNN talk show host Larry King issued a statement in response to the news stories of an apparent drug overdose, but the broadcaster did not direct confirming it. "
On the story of LK being replaced by Morgan this from the LA Times:
"Despite several reports that CNN is poised to sign a deal with “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan to replace Larry King, people inside the network said there is no rush to pick a successor to King, who has another year left on his contract.Rather, executives remain intently focused on developing a new show for the 8 p.m. ET time slot now that anchor Campbell Brown has decided to leave the network. CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein is strongly considering a political point-counterpoint show in the vein of “Crossfire,” which he canceled shortly after joining the network. Among those being evaluated as possible panelists are former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
“Not surprisingly, there is no shortage of people who would love to succeed Larry King if and when he moves on, but rumors that we are close to signing a deal for a Larry King replacement are untrue,” said a CNN spokeswoman. “We are currently looking at replacing our 8 p.m. program and that is our priority. Larry is a beloved member of the team, and he will continue to be part of the CNN family into the future.”
This morning ABC had a banner that said
ReplyDeleteKing without a throne.CNN made itself a
laughing stock and now they are just a
national joke.If CNN goes with sleaze and
trash I won't watch the network at all. I am
not sure CNN is in trouble for not doing
more opinion or fake debate.I can't wait
for Jon Stewart to take on this.CNN should
be embarrassed.Do they want 360 to follow
absolute tabloid trash. Bad enough CNN
has dumbed down the news now they
have to ruin CNN's reputation as well.
Larry King is an American broadcast legend.
ReplyDeleteWhy would CNN publicly humiliate him ? i can't
believe Jim Walton does not have a problem with
hiring Piers Morgan, Walton was with CNN from
the beginning. Campbell Brown was never the
right choice and neither is Piers Morgan. There
needs to be an intervention before it is too late.
This guy ran a tabloid rag and published fake
photos and no one is thinking what this will do
to CNN's credibility. What happens if there is
breaking news? Morgan was fired after that
stunt , would you trust anything you would
see from this guy. Now Americans can't even
get a job a CNN.
As CNN goes down in the gutter, MSNBC is
ReplyDeletesmelling CNN's blood. Now they will have a
new 10 pm show featuring Lawrence O'donnell.
With 360 being CNN's top show, how come CNN
doesn't build it's lineup around 360 with some
complimentary shows that can fit in with 360.
The management at MSNBC has it act together.
I could understand someone like Whoopi
Goldberg getting a show on CNN. In fact I
think she would clean Keith's clock. Goldberg
is smart and can handle news and does it
daily on The View..CNN needs a better show
for the hour not something that is worse
and will likely help sink CNN.MSNBC knows
their viewers will be comfortable with their
new 10pm show because O'donnell has
subbed for Keith and is a familiar face.
Personally, I don't think CNN viewers will
like Elliott Spitzer or Piers Morgan. A
viewer generated news program featuring
legitimate news at 9 would be a good move
once Larry retires.360 seems to be doing
well for CNN and it was really good last
night. Imagine what Anderson's numbers
would be like if 360 could pull in 1 million
viewers each night,CNN needs to drop any
plans of hiring Eliott Spitzer or Piers Morgan.
I don't think Americans will like Larry being
replaced by a Brit.
CNN's reputation has long been gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you both about Piers, what a name, Morgan. Doesn't anyone else see the similarity between him and Tony Hayward or am I the only one?
My vote is on Eliot Spitzer. Yes, there was deceitfulness while he was Governor of NY and it was on public time, but his wife forgave him, and he's got some intellect. He also has a good sense of humor and knows how to conduct himself. In fact, NY could now use him as their governor. He accepted blame and came out fighting and now we need to give him a chance to redeem himself and CNN just might be the one capable of giving him that exposure.
If you don't agree, just look at who is now running the state of NY. I use the word "running," for lack of any other word suitable.
CNN how about Charlie Rose. Let Larry
ReplyDeletebow out gracefully.Google is about to
get in the news biz. YouTube is becoming
a source of news for millions. Instead of
going follow me on Twitter/Facebook, how
about submit news stories at CNN.com.
Right now CNN is limited to I-Report but
if they could find a way to bring the Digg
or Reddit element into the mix by allowing
items from all around the web, magazines
and newspapers in edition to video and
photos. CNN should give 1 hr of prime
time to it's viewers. The world is a small
place and you can get connected and share
the news. Give a shout out to the viewers
stories you use and even permit people
to send in their pictures to be used during
the broadcast or let people have an avatar.
CNN can't afford to have someone who has
ReplyDeleteno news or television experience to kickoff
it's prime time lineup.I am willing to be the
guy will bring in worst ratings than Campbell.
Now it appears we know what has been going
ReplyDeleteon . MSNBC was likely considering Spitzer for a
show after Rachel Maddow but they decided to
go with O;Donnell. So this was nothing but reps
for Spitzer gets their buddies in the media to
make it seem like he was a hot property and
CNN ends up getting punked because MSNBC
was never going to give the slot to Spitzer.
Too funny.
Don't forget about Chelsea Handler. CNN has
ReplyDeleteto go with a female at 8. Greta just re-signed
with FNC and Rachel Maddow is making the
difference for MSNBC. Without a doubt Brown's
replacement has to be a female or that would
send a really bad message, especially with 3
female journalists having recently left CNN.
Some are asking if there is a glass ceiling at
CNN.
Tv by the Numbers have the ratings and Larry
ReplyDeletetopped Rachel. There is a lot of criticism about
Keith & Rachel's behavior last night and how
they were complaining that the President did
not do what they wanted.MSNBC did not even
get 300 thousand in the demo last night.CNN
just needs a show with a likable personality
at 8 to top Keith. One thing CNN should have
done last night was to have viewers call in
with their responses and ask question to the
people on CNN. Larry even has a 2 hour
Gulf special on Monday and Soledad's
latest doc will be on Thursday, followed by
Don Lemon's Michael Jackson doc on Friday.
It will be interesting. I like that the docs
beat Countdown in the demo.I really don't
think Keith has a loyal audience since he
can struggle against Nancy Grace sometimes.
Heck lately there are even days when Joy
gets close to Rachel.I think people would
like something other than politics each
day. Yes there are times when you will
need to cover political news but definitely
not everyday. Politics and ideology should
not dominate the news. CNN has to stick
with news but find ways to improve the
presentation, There are times when I feel
CNN ignores viewers and gets to wrapped
up in themselves.We saw nearly 90 mins
of analysis after the speech and for 360
to do the same thing for an hour was not
a smart move since Anderson was on
after the speech. I wonder if people thought
it was the same thing from before.
@11:01PM Chelsea Handler may impress you but she has no credentials to be a reporter, or journalist and she's NOT funny. If you want funny, watch Comedy Central. She has no place on CNN.
ReplyDelete@6:17PM: Absolutely right. This is the wrong time to hire someone who reminds us of Tony Hayward, and not only looks like him but is also arrogant. I wouldn't watch.
ReplyDelete