Carson Daly Leaving NBC’s ‘Last Call,’ Says It’s ‘Time To Move On To Something New’
After 17 years, Carson Daly has decided to step down as host of the late-night NBC program Last Call with Carson Daly. The peacock network made the announcement on Tuesday, February 12.
According to an NBC press release posted on the Futon Critic website, Daly is leaving the series in order to concentrate on his other gigs with the network (he is the host of the Orange Room on Today, the host and producer of the Voice, and hosts a New Year’s Eve special every year), explore new opportunities, and spend more time with his family.
“If you had told me in 2002 [that] I would be a part of the historic NBC late-night family for 17 years, I would have said you were crazy,” said the 45-year-old television personality.
“Hard to believe it’s been so long — 2,000 episodes. It’s time to move on to something new and let someone else have access to this incredible platform.”
Daly joked that his 20s were about “finding a good job,” while his 30s were about “taking on as many” positions as possible. Now that he is in his 40s, he’s “focused on quality over quantity.”
One of the new projects he hinted at is for one of his favorite TV networks, the Golf Channel, which is owned by NBC’s parent company, NBCUniversal. At one point in his life, Daly thought that he was going to become a professional golfer.
Last Call with Carson Daly made its TV debut on January 8, 2002. The series is known for its long-form interviews and introducing new musical artists to the masses, including Maroon 5, Halsey, 21 Pilots, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar.
NBC will soon announce the date of the show’s last episode.
Additionally, the network plans to shortly reveal what program will take its place on the TV schedule.
Daly began his career in entertainment as a radio deejay before becoming a veejay on MTV. While at MTV, he rose to fame as the host of the super popular daily series TRL from 1998 to 2003.
He has been married to Siri Pinter for three years, and they have three children together, 9-year-old son Jackson James, 6-year-old daughter Etta Jones, and 4-year-old daughter London Rose.
“I could have all the jobs in the world, but none of them are more important to me than that of Dad. My family will always remain my top priority and greatest gig,” he said.
Last Call with Carson Daly airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. on NBC.
