Gayle King’s $12 Million Per Year CNN Contact Infuriates Network Employees: ‘Everyone Has Been Told There’s No Money’
News that flailing CNN has offered ratings-challenged CBS Mornings’ anchor Gayle King an eye-watering $12 million to co-host an evening talk show has infuriated longtime employees who survived a massive job cut at the struggling network, RadarOnline.com has learned.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Gayle is set to pull in eight figures per year for one hour of work. The network plans to have her host a nighttime show with NBA legend Charles Barkley.
“Everyone has been told there’s no money, yet they’re managing to scrape up cash to pay Gayle King,” said a source. “It’s incredibly tone-deaf, as well as being rude to the hard-working people who’ve been toiling here for years!”
CNN had a meager 535,000 primetime viewers for the first quarter this year — a frightening 35 percent decline from a year ago — marking its lowest quarterly ratings average since 2015, sources said.
The network laid off about 400 workers in December and pulled the plug on the streaming service CNN+ just one month after it launched.
Licht has failed to score a hit following his bungled effort to make Jake Tapper a primetime star last year. He also installed Don Lemon on CNN This Morning to disastrous results.
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- Gayle King ‘Seriously Considering’ Offer From CNN Honco Chris Licht For Prime-Time Talk Show As Network’s Ratings Continue To Dive
- Gayle King & Charles Barkley’s CNN Show ‘Last Chance’ For CEO Chris Licht As Network's Struggles Worsen: Sources
Insider said Gayle is playing coy and publicly commented she had two years left on her CBS contract before news broke. Her potential recruitment is seen as all the more curious to network sources, who note her current show is mired in third place behind Good Morning America and Today — and she’s been offered a deal to stay at CBS while working for CNN!
“Explain how Gayle King is going to help?” scoffed one angry staffer. “Really! They couldn’t have hired someone from the number two rated show, or God forbid, number one?”
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Gayle was able to “write her own check” after Chris approached her with the deal given the network’s troubles.
“Gayle will not only be the highest paid person at CNN, she and Charles will be the highest paid on-air pair,” an insider told RadarOnline.com. “It will also make Gayle one of the highest people on television when you add her CBS contract into the mix.”
CNN and Gayle have yet to finalize the deal but sources revealed it will be locked soon.