Two presidents and four television news anchors turned out to bid the iconic TV host farewell as he pulled the curtain down on his talk show Thursday after 25 years. The Nielsen Co. said Friday that an estimated 2.24 million people watched the last episode of "Larry King Live."
He beat the usual leader in cable news during that time slot, Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, who had 2.16 million viewers. King had been averaging 672,000 viewers a night this year, typically third in his time slot behind Hannity and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow - and sometimes even fourth behind HLN's Joy Behar. King, a pioneer in cable television news, had President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton wish him well on his final daily CNN show.
A parade of guests stopped by, including news anchors Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and Brian Williams, who were in CNN's New York studio.
