AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: Gayle King expected to depart CBS News in bombshell move amid Bari Weiss takeover.
Gayle King is expected to be the next major departure from CBS News, as the anchor is set to leave the network’s morning show as major changes under Bari Weiss continue.
The 70-year-old, who has hosted CBS Mornings under various titles since 2012, will leave the show next year, with her contract set to end in May, Variety reports.
King may not be purged from the network entirely, as they may give her a new contract to produce specials for the network, similar to what happened to ex-CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell.
‘There have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026. She’s a truly valued part of CBS and we look forward to engaging with her about the future,’ the network told the magazine in a statement.
CBS Mornings is currently a distant third place among the major networks, having averaged just 1.8million viewers in the week ending October 20.
In that same period, Good Morning America led the way with 2.71million viewers on ABC, while The Today Show trailed close behind at 2.69million.
In May of 2021, AP reported: Morning shows extend the day to cope with viewer erosion.
In 2000, during the height of the Katie Couric-Matt Lauer dynasty, the “Today” show was being seen by 7.2 million viewers a day, and less than half (3.3 million) were watching during the first three months of this year. “Good Morning America” is down 29% during the same period.
Where people once turned on their TVs to get a sense of what happened in the world overnight, now they can grab the smartphone on their bedside table. Podcasts like “The Daily” have established themselves, and cable television offers opinionated alternatives.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts,” said Alice Sylvester, Spaeth’s colleague at Sequent Partners.
Faster, please. Speaking of which, we’ll always share in the joys of King’s 11-minutes in space: Gayle King insists she was like Alan Shepard on her space ‘joyride.’