Gayle King signs a new deal to stay with ‘CBS Mornings’
Gayle King is staying put as co-host at “CBS Mornings.”
King told listeners of her SiriusXM radio program Thursday that she has signed a new deal with CBS News, ending speculation that she might be heading elsewhere in the short term.
Her current deal was set to end in April.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but King earns around $13 million a year — one of the highest salaries in TV news — said a person familiar with the deal who was not authorized to comment.
“I officially signed on the dotted line,” King said. “So I will be with CBS a little bit longer.”
King, 67, was wooed by CNN to take over Chris Cuomo’s spot on the cable news channel’s prime-time lineup, according to reports in the New York Times and New York Post.
Cuomo was fired from the network in December after management determined he had been too involved in managing the sexual harassment scandal that forced his brother Andrew Cuomo to resign as New York governor. A former colleague at ABC News also accused Chris Cuomo of sexual assault, which he denied.
Without citing CNN, King acknowledged there were discussions with other suitors.
‘CBS Evening News’ anchor Norah O’Donnell will revive ‘Person to Person’ as a weekly offering on the service.
“There’s lots of speculation about ‘what Gayle’s gonna do, where is she gonna go, is she being courted?” King said. “The answer was yes.”
King has been with CBS News since 2012, when it first launched “CBS This Morning.” The show’s ratings grew as she sat alongside Norah O’Donnell and Charlie Rose in the first several years of the program.
The program’s momentum stopped once Rose departed amid sexual harassment allegations. But King did emerge as one of the biggest stars of CBS News, especially after her provocative interview with R&B music star R Kelly about the sexual assault charges he faced.
King is now the lead host on the program, renamed “CBS Mornings” last year, with Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson. The program ranks behind NBC’s “Today,” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” averaging 2.6 million viewers.
CBS News also recently announced King will front a new series, “CBS Reports,” for its CBS News Streaming platform.
King told her SiriusXM listeners that a recent presentation by CBS News and Stations co-presidents Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy MacMahon on the revamp of the division’s streaming service was a factor in her decision to stay.
“They believe in swinging for the fences, and I’ m thinking ‘I wanna play,’” King said.
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