Piers Morgan's long, slow march to CNN continues — but not apace.
An individual close to the parties confirmed that CNN is nearing an official announcement to have the British journalist and "America's Got Talent" host replace Larry King at 9 p.m. The network.
British tabloids first named Morgan as King's replacement on June 14, over two weeks before King officially announced that he would be retiring. King revealed his decision to step down as host of "Larry King Live" after 25 years on June 29.
Morgan's odyssey continued after those initial reports because his contract with NBC for "America's Got Talent" stood in the way of a deal. NBC later made a deal to share Morgan with CNN. Delays in the expected timeline for the announcement and rumored visa troubles for Morgan have led to doubts about the deal.
On August 11, Bonnie Fuller's Hollywoodlife.com posted a story saying that Morgan wasn't going to CNN. At the time, a person close to Morgan denied the reports and told TheWrap that an announcement would come by this week. Hollywoodlife.com subsequently deleted its story.
After no news broke at CNN this week, the New York Post published a report that the deal was being held up because Morgan was having "trouble obtaining a work visa." The Post story was titled, "Larry King's last day of work gets postponed" and said Morgan had been set to take over for King by "by late October or early November."
Really?
Back on June 29, when King announced his exit, sources told TheWrap that he would be staying until November. King has even Tweeted about his plans for November episodes of "Larry King Live."
And an individual close to the parties involved told TheWrap that the Post article is "absolutely untrue."
"There's an announcement that's imminent, this will be timed to coincide with a massive press cycle for him," the person said.
The individual said they were "not at liberty" to say whether the ink was dry on a contract to bring Morgan to CNN. They said the network would make an announcement in the next couple of weeks to maximize buzz that they expect to be generated by Morgan appearing at the Emmys Aug. 29 and upcoming episodes of "America's Got Talent."
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UPDATE: An article that said Morgan's "bid to replace Larry King … has been delayed by visa problems" has been deleted from the website of the British Daily Mail.
Additional Reporting by Dylan Stableford.
