Larry King claims Piers Morgan was 'oversold' to US

Larry King (right) bowed out in December after presenting his CNN talk show for 25 years

Former long-running CNN talk show host Larry King has claimed his successor Piers Morgan was "oversold" to US television audiences.

"I don't want to be horrible about him, I think he's a fine broadcaster," King told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

After it was announced that the former newspaper editor would be replacing King last year, a huge advertising campaign began to publicise the show.

"I think they might have been better off starting quietly," King said.

King bowed out in December after presenting his CNN talk show for 25 years.

Morgan made his debut in January with Oprah Winfrey as his first guest.

Critics gave a mixed reaction to Morgan's first show with the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper calling him "enthusiastic and effusive".

Hank Stuever from The Washington Post, however, said the show "turned out to be a fawning and completely unnecessary interview".

King said he had not watched many episodes of the show, but added that from what he had seen, Morgan seemed "fine".

He added: "I think one of the problems they did was over sell it. He was going to be dangerous, he was going to be water cooler talk."

King told host Eddie Mair: "He's good but not that dangerous. I think they might have been better off starting quietly and that's not Piers' fault, or maybe it is, I'm not inside anymore.

"He's certainly not bad. He's certainly an acceptable host. He asks good questions, maybe he interrupts a little too much at times. I think he may have been oversold."