Regis talking TV comeback?

DETROIT, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Regis Philbin says he isn't retiring from show business and expressed interest in a possible prime-time gig.

In an interview on Detroit's Mojo in the Morning radio show, the 80-year-old television veteran said his departure from the daytime talk show "Live!" was the result of a contract dispute and not any desire on his part to quit show business.

"I'm not calling it quits, you understand," Philbin said. "I'm moving on. I'm not retiring."

Entertainment Weekly said Philbin did not mention any hot prospects but expressed an interest in working on a prime-time project.

He also praised the various personalities that have been mentioned as potential replacements on "Live." But he warned a daily show in the daytime has its own rigors and depends a lot on the individual.

"You don't know how difficult it is to keep a situation going on a show like that that has no writers, no meetings," Philbin said. "You just go out there and you do it. I could do that because I've done it for 50 years, that's the way that I like to do it."