Meredith Vieira to leave ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’

Meredith Vieira to leave ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’

Eells, Scott

Meredith Vieira will leave 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' to 'pursue other opportunities.'

It's her final answer.

Meredith Vieira is leaving “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” after hosting the hit quiz show’s syndicated edition for 11 seasons.

“It’s the final year of Meredith’s contract. She has chosen to move on and pursue other opportunities. We are searching for a new host,” said a spokeswoman for Disney/ABC Television Group, which produces the show.

She took over as host in 2005 and typically filmed about two seasons worth of episodes each year.

Vieira will remain on the air for new episodes through May and on repeats that will play over the summer before a new host takes over in the fall, the spokeswoman said.

The quiz show, which originated on Britian’s ITV in 1998, has since spread across the globe.

Dozens of countries have their own hosts and editions, which gave rise to the popular culture question “Is that your final answer?” It also was the basis for the 2008 film “Slumdog Millionaire,” which won a Best Picture Oscar.

When the show first arrived in the U.S. in 1999, the primetime edition was hosted on ABC by Regis Philbin. It set off a craze that producers milked with video games, board games and even a line of solid-colored neck ties originally worn by Philbin on the air.

Vieira, a fourteen-time Emmy winner, was a co-host of the “Today” show from 2006 to 2011. Before that she was a host on ABC’s daytime show “The View.”

Sources told the Daily News that Vieira, who is still under contract with NBC News â€" serving as a special correspondent for “Today” and other news programming â€" is working on a new project at NBC. She has grown “tired” of her “Millionaire” hosting duties and wanted to try something new, the source added.

Vieira declined to comment.

As news of Vieira’s exit from “Millioniare” spread Friday, there was rampant speculation that she may be headed back to her hosting duties on “Today.”

NBC News officials moved quickly to brand the buzz as “nonsense.”

Vieira was among the morning show’s most successful co-hosts, sliding into the role effortlessly after Katie Couric left the program to anchor the “CBS Evening News” in 2006.

Since Vieira left the show in 2011, the ratings for “Today” have slipped, setting the stage for the once top-rated program to get beaten by its arch-rival, “Good Morning America.”