On April 3 , before a studio audience he broke the news of his retirement:

“I just want to reiterate my thanks for the support from the network, all of the people who have worked here, all of the people in the theater, all the people on the staff, everybody at home, thank you very much,he went on saying he would retire from late night and the ‘Late Show with David Letterman‘ in 2015 ” Letterman said during a taping for the show in the afternoon and it quickly leaked out.

Letterman has always been known for his proactive approach to issues. Can we ever forget how he in 2009 openly admitted having a sexual involvement with a female colleague in a live show. He decided to explain what happened when he realised a fellow CBS News employee was trying to blackmail him.

He has been praised by colleagues and PR agents for his approach to his retirement too with some saying :

“I think Dave wanted to bow out before he gets pushed out,” says Glenn Selig, founder of the national PR firm The Publicity Agency. ”I think Dave is smart enough to realize that it’s best to exit before the narrative begins about him being the eldest of the late night hosts and stories begin about when he’ll be leaving or worse–when he’ll be pushed out. He’s exiting in a great spot. He handled it very well.”

Selig praised Letterman, who turns 67 next week, for getting in front of the story which would inevitably come. With Jay Leno’s recent exit from NBC’s ‘Tonight Show,’ Letterman’s late night competition are all relatively young: Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Arsenio Hall. Selig says it was only a matter of time before the narrative would start.