Larry King Hanging Up His Suspenders

CNN fixture says he'll step down from Larry King Live later this year

Let the hunt for a successor begin continue.

Larry King Live's stalwart host said Tuesday that he plans to end his 25-year run after this summer.

"Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end Larry King Live, the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games," he said in a statement on CNN.com.

The 76-year-old subject-spanning interviewer says that he'll still be involved with CNN, hosting specials on "major national and international subjects."

"I'm incredibly proud that we recently made the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot. With this chapter closing I'm looking forward to the future and what my next chapter will bring, but for now it's time to hang up my nightly suspenders."

King recently made headlines himself by filing for divorce from his seventh wife, Shawn. The couple have since reconciled, though it's anyone's guess as to what's really going behind closed doors.

Among others, Ryan Seacrest's name has been bandied about as a possible successor to King because he occasionally fills in as guest host, but it's unclear whether CNN will choose to keep the same type of show during its coveted 9 p.m. time slot. Larry King Live has slipped in the cable news ratings lately behind The Rachel Maddow Show  on MSNBC and Hannity on Fox News.