David Letterman Announces Retirement From “The Late Show”

David Letterman Announces Retirement From “The Late Show”

David Letterman revealed that he was retiring from “The Late Show” during the taping of the show in New York recently. The contract of the late-night television host is set to expire next year, and it remains uncertain who will serve as the replacement of Letterman.

The host indicated that he had a discussion with the Leslie Moonves, chief executive and president of Corp, on the circumstance and its timing. He said that he talked with Moonvess and revealed that he was retiring. He added that there was no timetable for the retirement although it may come in around one year or so.

Reports of the retirement plans of David Letterman came after Jay Leno was replaced by Jimmy Fallon as the host of “The Tonight Show.”

Nielsen revealed that the show of Fallon averaged around 5.1 million viewers each week. In comparison, the show hosted by David Letterman had 2.9 million viewers each week. However, Letterman remained the favorite among critics due to his flippant brand of humor as well as signature spots like the Top 10 list.

Letterman also had a number of innovations in the show including the “Monkey Cam” where a camera was strapped on a monkey that was set loose inside the studio. But, there were also some serious moments during the show including the first broadcast of the show following the September 11 World Trade Center disaster.

Letterman was considered as the successor of Johnny Carson as he owned the slot after the “The Tonight Show.” However, when Leno was selected to replace Carson, a bitter feud started as Letterman transferred to CBS, which set up a show to rival the show of Leno. The host brought with him Paul Shaffer into CBS.

Letterman initially led the ratings before Leno overtook him in 1995. Leno remained at the No.1 spot for most of his career as host. ABC network attempted to attract David Letterman in March 2002 to replace a late-night news program, but the host remained with CBS.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Sunday April 06 2014, 4:06 AM EDT. Ref: Reuters. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0