Piers Morgan Officially Set to Replace Larry King

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REUTERS/Andrew Winning

After seemingly endless rumors and speculation, CNN has finally confirmed that British journalist Piers Morgan will be filling Larry King’s time slot on CNN. (via Tuned In)

Morgan is best known for judging America’s Got Talent, but has a respected print and broadcast journalism career back in his native U.K. TIME’s James Poniewozik writes on Tuned In that Morgan’s addition reflects CNN’s loyalty to the light interview format:

By hiring Morgan, a slickly telegenic journalist known for his celebrity interviews, CNN is taking the position that its problem was Larry King, not the Larry King Live format of mixing light personality chats with news-pegged interviews. The idea here seems to be to replace King, a success in primetime for years, with a younger, fresher variation, thus keeping the franchise alive.

Don’t watch America’s Got Talent? Find out who Piers Morgan actually is.