David Letterman To Retire - End Of An Era!

 the longest-serving late-night host in TV history, announced he’s retiring next year.

The iconic CBS host revealed the news during the taping of his Late Show on Thursday. He said he informed CBS president and CEO Les Moonves that he will step down as the host of the show in 2015, which is when his current contract expires.

Letterman then received a standing ovation from the audience in the Ed Sullivan Theater.

The 66-year-old host has been a late-night staple since he launched Late Night with David Letterman on NBC in 1982. The exit follows the departure of his longtime Tonight Show rival Jay Leno, who stepped down this year.

The announcement was both broadly expected and immediately surprising. Last year, Letterman renewed his deal for only a single year — the first time he has ever done so — which increased speculation he was preparing to step down. Yet after all these decades on the air, the news is startling as it’s difficult to imagine the CBS airwaves without him.

The unexpected announcement left the media scrambling to confirm the news, which leaked out quickly via Twitter. Sources say only Letterman and Moonves knew of his plan to announce his retirement before the show. Shortly before he took the stage, Letterman also informed his staff.

Sources say Letterman has no specific post-exit plans yet. Speculation has already begun about who might replace Letterman, with Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert as one oft-mentioned possibility by industry insiders.culled from insidetv

*End of an era indeed.Mr Letterman is awesome!