CBS News has renewed the contract of its biggest star, Gayle King — even as the Tiffany network faces deep cost cuts, The Post has learned.
The 69-year-old “CBS Mornings” co-host's decision to return to the last-place morning show comes at a turbulent time for CBS and parent company Paramount Global, which $500 million cut from budget expected Beyond this A merger with Hollywood studio Skydance is proposed the following year.
Terms of the deal — including his compensation and the length of the contract extension — couldn’t immediately be known.
Sources speculate that King may have His reported salary is $13 million The decision was taken after several weeks of difficult negotiations.
“Gayle cares about people,” a source close to King told The Post on Thursday. “She’s someone who would take a pay cut to save jobs on her show.”
CBS and King declined to comment.
Insiders said the move shows that CBS News executives still value King, even though the morning show's ratings are down while the “CBS Evening News” has faced recent turmoil under network CEO Wendy McMahon.
Another source close to the deal said, “Gayle is real in front of and behind the camera. This is great news for her and CBS.”
Last month, The Post exclusively reported that McMahon was investing in the “CBS Mornings” brand Third Hour launches in select markets,
“Laying off Gayle King strengthens a big part of CBS, which is the morning show,” a third network source said.
The employees were shocked when “Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell was revealed in July She said she would be leaving the third-ranked broadcast to become a special correspondent after the presidential election.
Since then, McMahon Revival of nightly news show announcedwhich would now be co-anchored by less well-known and less expensive hosts, CBS News veteran John Dickerson and WCBS-TV anchorman Maurice DuBois.
Although “CBS Mornings” — anchored by King, Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil — remains in third place, it has gained something of a lead in the advertiser-coveted demographic of viewers ages 25 to 54 over ABC’s standard-bearer “Good Morning America.”
According to Nielsen data for this season, “CBS Mornings” has beaten “GMA” 17 times among adults 25 to 54.
In the second quarter of the year, “CBS Mornings” trailed “GMA” in the demo by just 68,000 viewers.
Overall, CBS averaged 2.1 million total viewers and 426,000 in the demo for the quarter.
It trailed “GMA,” which had 2.8 million total viewers and 494,000 demo viewers.
NBC's “Today” had 2.7 million total viewers and 620,000 in the demo.
CBS insiders said King’s coverage has helped boost the momentum of “CBS Mornings,” including some of her recent interviews with music legend Jay-Z, Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, rapper Megan Thee Stallion and Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
“Why mess with what's working? ABC is struggling and CBS has real momentum in the morning,” one CBS insider said of King's renewal. “It's a win-win situation.”
