Piers Morgan leaves 'America's Got Talent'

Piers Morgan announced Wednesday that he’s leaving his post on the NBC talent show America’s Got Talent.

He plans to focus on his CNN show Piers Morgan Tonight. Morgan does not wish to work on two big shows simultaneously.

“I am going to focus on what will be a huge year at CNN,” Morgan said. He added, jokingly, that this new, lighter schedule may allow him to host the Academy Awards, if he’s asked to do so.

"Well, members of the Academy, I'm available. My schedule just cleared a bit, because I can exclusively reveal that I'm leaving America's Got Talent," Piers said, referring to the currently open Oscars hosting gig. Eddie Murphy dropped out of the Oscar-hosting stint following the forced departure of Brett Ratner, who had disenchanted himself with Academy officials last week when he made homophobic remarks.

He hosted Talent for six years with his friend Simon Cowell, among others. Morgan also served as a judge on the show Britain’s Got Talent from 2007 to 2010.