Craig Ferguson will be leaving the "Late Late Show" in December,
The Washington Post reported.
Ferguson has been hosting the
quirky program for 10 years at the 12:30 a.m. time slot.
Nina Tassler of CBS's entertainment division said Ferguson had "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television."
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
Ferguson, 51, told a studio audience, "I'll be stepping down at the end of this year in December and then I'll go and do something else."
The network said Ferguson, who is also an actor and director, has other projects in the works including hosting duties on upcoming syndicated game show "Celebrity Name Game."
Ferguson emphasized that he and CBS were parting company on good terms. He said, "CBS and I are not getting divorced, we are 'consciously uncoupling.' But we will still spend holidays together and share custody of the fake horse and robot skeleton, both of whom we love very much."
The items are trademarks of Ferguson's madcap program.
CBS opted not to replace Letterman with Ferguson possibly because of his unconventional style, the Post reported. Stephen Colbert will be taking over "The Late Show" next year.
"It's an inevitable thing when David announced his retirement, people are going to say 'Oh he's leaving because of that,'" Ferguson told
Variety. He said he had been wanting to leave in 2014 but that CBS prevailed upon him to stay on.
Ferguson's program airs immediately following Letterman's and is owned by Letterman's production firm.
A winner of Emmy and Peabody awards, Ferguson also tackled serious news and personal topics such as alcoholism, divorce, and fatherhood. He said that although his program was on late at night he didn't mean for it to be part of the late-night talk show genre.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
Related Stories: