Piers Morgan to replace Larry King: January

Piers Morgan was finally named Larry King's replacement today - ending a long guessing game that began months ago with this question, "why Piers Morgan?"

The "why" is to be determined. He's considered an agile, smart and accomplished TV interviewer in the U.K., but his presence and rep on this side of the ocean are limited to just one show, "America's Got Talent." Consider this deal with CNN a sharing arrangement with NBC, which is unlikely to cut him loose from summer's reigning hit. More questions - can Morgan host both these programs? I've posted a couple of Piers' interview clips below, so you can render judgment on his style. The second one is more interesting because it's Gordon Brown - obviously a (former) political figure who will be representative (presumably) of the types of subjects Morgan will handle on the show. But one should not discount the likelihood of many, many celebrity interviews either.

Here's his longish soundbite:

“I am thrilled to be joining CNN, and very much looking forward to bringing my own style of interviewing to the world’s biggest, and best, TV news organization,” said Morgan. “As a young journalist in Britain, I watched CNN’s astonishing live coverage of the 1991 Gulf War, and felt enthralled by the courage and brilliance of the journalists involved in that coverage. Years later, I watched Anderson Cooper’s visceral reports from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and felt equally enthralled by his passionate and relentless search for the truth. Perhaps most pertinently, I have watched Larry King Live for much of the last 25 years, and dreamed of one day filling the legendary suspenders of the man I consider to be the greatest TV interviewer of them all. To now have the chance to work with Larry and Anderson, and to try and continue the outstanding journalistic legacy created by them, and so many others at CNN,  is both a great honor, and a great challenge.”