Howard Kurtz writes in today's Washington Post on Larry King's retirement from his nightly CNN show...

"The onetime radio host has interviewed an endless parade of presidents, monarchs and celebrities using an average-guy-from-Brooklyn approach, one that felt increasingly old-school in an era of opinionated programs on the right and left. King lost nearly half his audience over the past year but said that did not persuade him to call it quits.

You always feel bad when there's a ratings decline," he said. "I never felt any pressure. CNN never pressured me."

CNN President Jon Klein said that King initiated the discussions. "When you put the ratings in the perspective of 25 years of shows, they are insignificant," Klein said, adding that he is pleased King will continue to do periodic specials for the network.

King "really put cable television on the map," he added. "He was one of the first superstars of cable and got millions of Americans accustomed to tuning in to the higher channels. It's all driven by his passion for talking to people."