He is the father — of a long-running daytime TV era that’s coming to an end.
In an age of podcasts, social media and streaming, Maury Povich, who is retiring from television after a record-breaking 31 years on daytime TV, plans to dive into the newspaper business. The 83-year-old talk show host visited ABC’s “The View” Monday to talk about calling it quits and what happens next.
“Here’s the problem, I usually end the season about this time so I don’t know about this retirement stuff,” he said Monday. “And I won’t know until August or September when I’m supposed to come back to work.”
The final episode of “Maury” is set to air in September. Povich has taped more than 3,600 programs over the past three decades, many of which deal with revealing the results of paternity tests to a live audience. Soon, things will slow down for the former “A Current Affair” host.
According to Povich, he plans to turn his attention to a newspaper he founded with his wife of 38 years, and fellow broadcaster, Connie Chung.
“Connie and I, believe it or not, against the grain,15 years ago, lived in Montana in the summer for like 25 years, so we started a newspaper,” he said.
Povich boasted that paper, The Flathead Beacon, has done really well in the Flathead Valley and he hopes to build on that success.
“So I’ll be very active in that,” he said “All these newspapers are closing and I — like an idiot — started one.”
The Flathead Beacon has won numerous local awards in northwest Montana.
On Monday, the panel of “The View” praised Povich for pushing the proverbial “envelope,” by normalizing topics like teen pregnancy and infidelity. The Washington, D.C., native said he’s confident his show convinced unexpectant fathers to get involved in their children’s lives.
“Because you humiliated them on television,” co-host Joy Behar said.
Povich claimed that people who see themselves acting foolish on TV may in fact be inspired to become better people. He also admitted that thousands of shows later, he’ll be remembered for two lines, which he delivered for the audience at “The View.”
“You are the father — you are not the father,” he said.
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