Piers Morgan, the Britain's Got Talent judge and former newspaper editor, is about to sign a four-year contract to take over King's primetime show in the autumn.

His British chat show, Piers Morgan's Life Stories, has also impressed CNN executives. He had interviewed Gordon Brown in one of the shows.

The 76-year-old Larry King reigned over American television for many years. The Larry King Show first aired in 1985, but for the first three months of this year his ratings fell to an all-time low of just 771,000 viewers, which is 43% down in the last year.

Morgan will base himself permanently in the U. S., as he will be quitting his role on Britain's Got Talent. Though, he won’t be able to participate in the early audition stages of the talent show, according to Simon Cowell, which still gives a vague picture of his future.