Larry King begins hosting The Larry King Show

On January 30, 1978, Larry King began hosting a nightly coast-to-coast radio program on the Mutual Broadcasting System, inheriting the talk show slot that had begun with Herb Jepko in late 1975, then followed by 'Long John' Nebel in 1977. King's Mutual show rapidly developed a devoted audience, called 'Kingaholics'. The Larry King Show was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first hour, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for the next two hours. At 3 a.m., the Open Phone America segment began, where he allowed callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him until the end of the program when he expressed his own political opinions. Many stations in the western time zones carried the Open Phone America portion of the show live, followed by the guest interview on tape delay. Some of King's regular callers used pseudonyms or were given nicknames by King, such as 'The Numbers Guy', 'The Chair', 'The Portland Laugher', 'The Miami Derelict', and 'The Scandal Scooper'. At the beginning, the show had 28 affiliates, but eventually rose to over 500. King occasionally entertained the audience by telling amusing stories from his youth or early broadcasting career. Wishing to reduce his workload, King began hosting a shorter, daytime version of the show in 1993. Jim Bohannon, King's primary fill-in host, took over the late night time slot. After 16 years on Mutual, King decided to retire from the program. The final broadcast of The Larry King Show was heard on May 27, 1993. Mutual's affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. After Westwood One dissolved Mutual in 1999, the radio simulcast of the CNN show continued until December 31, 2009.