He has logged the most on camera hours in television history (15,662, as certified by Guinness World Records in 2006). But now the man behind the record is ready to call it a career.
Regis Philbin shocked his live audience yesterday during the taping of “Live with Regis and Kelly,” when he announced that he will be retiring from television at the end of this season. “There is a time that everything must come to an end for certain people on camera — especially certain old people!” said the 79-year-old wisecracking Philbin after more than a half-century in television. “It’s been 28 years,” Philbin said reflectively about his current New York City-based show. “It was the biggest thrill of my life to come back to New York, where I grew up as a kid watching TV in the early days, you know, never even dreaming that I would one day have the ability, or whatever it takes, to get in front of the camera and talk to it.”
As Philbin prepares to exit “Live!” it remains a strong ratings winner, averaging about 4 million viewers daily. It’s the #2 rated daily talk show after “Oprah Winfrey.” Incidentally, his retirement comes during a time of 2 other major television retirements — 79-year-old Larry King, who retired from his prime-time CNN talk show last month, and Oprah Winfrey, who will mark her last year as host of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to focus on building her OWN network.
Following the surprise announcement, Philbin’s tearful cohost, Kelly Ripa, paid homage to the man known as “Reege” by saying “I only wish there was something I could do to change your mind.” Disney, which owns ABC, promises the show will continue with a new cohost to share duties with Kelly Ripa following Philbin’s retirement.
