NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - "Wall Street Week" host Louis Rukeyser often says "the only constant is change" and it appears his audience is changing around him.

Rukeyser, 69, said Thursday he will leave the show he created 32 years ago as Maryland Public Television retools the popular public television program.

MPT took the initiative to revamp the program on its own, without a directive from the Public Broadcasting Service, according to Harry Forbes, spokesman for PBS programming.

"The PBS philosophy is to keep the best and reinvent the rest, and MPT is taking the initiative based on that philosophy," Forbes said.

Executives at Maryland Public Television said there are several reasons for revamping "Wall Street Week."

Louis Rukeyser, television's "Wall $treet Week" host, steps down after 32 years on the show.

"It's important that the show remain in its Friday night position, and there is a risk it may not" Jeff Harkin, MPT's vice president of marketing, told CNN/Money. "The show was also not in the top 10 of our donor survey, which is unusual. The show has been on the air for 32 years and the expectation of what people want in financial news has changed dramatically."

Rukeyser said he had been negotiating with MPT to make changes to the show and was not aware of any problems until Wednesday.

"They decided unilaterally not to proceed with me as the host of the show I created, wrote and maintained for 32 years," Rukeyser said. "They then tried to get me to remain with the program in a senior-commentator capacity, but I decided I didn't want to have anything further to do with them."

Harkin added that he hopes Rukeyser accepts the alternative role MPT offered in the new format.

MPT and Fortune magazine, which is published by CNN/Money's parent AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates), are creating a new version of the weekly program called "Wall $treet Week With Fortune." The show, slated to air in the fall, will feature Fortune editorial director Geoffrey Colvin and an undetermined co-anchor, MPT said.

Rukeyser's contract runs through June. He said the final edition of the show will air June 28.

Rukeyser said he will consider doing another show with another network. "My phone has been ringing off the hook with alternative offers, and I will certainly consider all of them," he said.

Rukeyser is known for his dry wit, measured erudition and skepticism of some of the marketplace's workings. The show has received widespread acclaim and boosted viewership of public television around the country.

-- from staff and wire reports