The host, who has been with the series since 2005, will sign off in December. 
 
 CBS, as expected, is making a change at Late Late Show, with host Craig Ferguson announcing Monday that he will sign off from the series in December. 
 
 Ferguson will make the announcement during Monday’s show, which features guests LL Cool J and The Vampire Diaries’ Candice Accola. 
 
 The Late Late Show change means CBS’ entire late-night lineup will undergo a facelift, with The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert already having been tapped to replace a retiring David Letterman as host of Late Show starting in 2015. 
 
 “During his 10 years as host, Craig has elevated CBS to new creative and competitive heights at 12:30,” CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler said in a release. “He infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television. Craig’s versatile talents as a writer, producer, actor and comedian speak to his great days ahead. While we’ll miss Craig and can’t thank him enough for his contributions to both the show and the network, we respect his decision to move on, and we look forward to celebrating his final broadcasts during the next eight months.” 
 
 News of Ferguson’s Late Late Show departure comes as his contract with CBS to host the talker was set to expire this year. Sources told THR that Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants would likely no longer produce a late-night show following Letterman’s exit. (CBS currently co-produces Late Late Night with Worldwide Pants.) 
 
 “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,” Ferguson said. 
 
 Following CBS’ Colbert announcement, speculation over who would take over the 12:35 a.m. slot for Ferguson has run the gamut, with the host/comedian’s exit widely anticipated. The Ferguson-hosted Late Late Show has been averaging less than half of what NBC’s new Late Night With Seth Meyers is pulling in the key adults 18-49 demographic. 
 
 CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves has reportedly been open to candidates outside the traditional mold, with How I Met Your Mother alum Neil Patrick Harris believed to be interested in the job. Harris, 40, a three-time host of the Tony Awards, has twice hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards as well as the World Magic Awards and the Spike Video Game Awards. 
 
 The network ruled out Chelsea Handler for the Late Late Show gig earlier this month, telling THR that “there are no discussions” with the E! show host to take over the network’s 12:35 a.m. late-night broadcast. Handler had a general meeting with CBS' syndication group and is rumored to be in talks with Netflix for a new show. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ferguson already has his follow-up gig lined up: hosting FremantleMedia North America’s syndicated game show Celebrity Name Game. 
 
 The Late Late Show becomes the latest late-night show to make a change at the top. Jimmy Fallon took over NBC’s The Tonight Show, with Meyers taking his seat at Late Night; and Colbert is in for Letterman at CBS. Ferguson has been the host of the Late Late Show since 2005 when he took over for Craig Kilborn. 
 
 During his run, Ferguson earned a Peabody Award in 2009 and an Emmy nomination in 2006. ||||| Late-night television has one more opening: Craig Ferguson announced on his CBS show Monday night that he will leave “The Late Late Show” at the end of the year. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson, whose contract was scheduled to end at that time, took the issue into his own hands and informed CBS executives that he would make the announcement Monday night. Mr. Ferguson has been the host of the CBS 12:35 a.m. show since January 2005. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson said in a statement, “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,” referring to two favorite props on the show. 
 
 The move comes a little more than three weeks after David Letterman announced that he would be leaving his own 11:35 p.m. late-night show on CBS and concluding his late-night career at the end of his contract next year. CBS moved quickly to name his replacement, Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report.” ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — A few weeks after David Letterman announced he'd be retiring from the CBS late-night television lineup, Craig Ferguson did the same. 
 
 This Wednesday, April 23, 2014 photo released by CBS shows Lyle Lovett, left, and Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," on the CBS Television Network. Ferguson says he is stepping... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ferguson, host of "The Late Late Show" since 2005, told his studio audience during Monday's taping that he will step down at the end of the year. Ferguson's show airs after Letterman's, at 12:35 a.m. on weekdays. 
 
 The move was no surprise after CBS announced that Stephen Colbert will replace Letterman next year. There was a time that Ferguson, whose show won a Peabody Award in 2009, was considered a strong contender for that job. 
 
 But "The Late Late Show" has faded in the ratings, particularly with the arrival of Seth Meyers in February as competition in the same time slot. 
 
 "CBS and I are not getting divorced, we are consciously uncoupling," Ferguson said. "But we will still spend holidays together and share custody of the fake horse and robot skeleton, both of whom we love very much." 
 
 He told the audience it was his decision to leave, adding, "CBS has been fine with me." 
 
 CBS Entertainment Chairwoman Nina Tassler said Ferguson "infused the broadcast with tremendous energy, unique comedy, insightful interviews and some of the most heartfelt monologues seen on television." 
 
 The Scottish-born Ferguson, 51, became a U.S. citizen during his tenure on the show. 
 
 He already has a new job lined up, as host of "Celebrity Name Game," a syndicated game show set to debut later this year. 
 
 But he joked about his plans with the audience. 
 
 After his stint ends, "I'll go and do something else. Probably, I'm thinking, carpentry. But I haven't made my mind up yet. ... I feel like doing this show for 10 years, that's enough," he said. 
 
 Guest LL Cool J told Ferguson that "I hate to see you go." 
 
 It's been an unusually busy period of personnel changes in the late-night television arena. Jimmy Fallon took over the "Tonight" show on NBC from Jay Leno in February and was an instant sensation, ascending to the top of the ratings against Letterman and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel. Letterman announced that he would be leaving CBS after more than three decades in late-night TV. 
 
 Chelsea Handler also has said she will be leaving her late-night show on E! 
 
 CBS said it plans to continue "The Late Late Show" and will be searching for another host. There's another opening at Comedy Central, which is looking to replace "The Colbert Report" when it ends at the end of the year. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Associated Press Television Writer Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
– After 10 years at the helm of CBS' Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson has decided it's time to move on. The network "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," he quipped in a statement. The Scottish-born host, who became a US citizen in 2008, has been with the show since January 2005 and plans to step down in December, reports the New York Times. Ferguson's Late Late Show retirement comes as no surprise after CBS' decision to hire Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman, the AP notes. Ferguson had once been considered a contender to replace Letterman, but his ratings dived after Seth Meyers arrived as competition in the same time slot in February. Neil Patrick Harris is believed to be interested in the Late Late Show gig, while Ferguson will become the host of game show Celebrity Name Game, according to the Hollywood Reporter.