Gayle King Signs New Deal to Stay With CBS News

Brian Steinberg
·2 min read
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Gayle King, who over ten years at CBS News has become one of that ViacomCBS division’s most recognizable personnel, has signed a deal to stay for another contract cycle.

“I still feel that in many ways I’m just getting started,” King told listeners of her SiriusXM radio program on Friday.

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Speculation has risen in recent weeks whether CBS News would keep both King and her colleague Norah O’Donnell, both of whom had contracts that were set to lapse this year. King last signed an extension with CBS News in 2019, when Susan Zirinsky, the former CBS News president, rebuilt the network’s morning-news program, now known as “CBS Mornings,” with her at the center. King has in recent years gained notice for her interviews with figures making waves in popular culture, including R Kelly.

During her radio show, King said she was impressed by CBS News’ plans for the future under co-presidents Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon. CBS News earlier this week relaunched its streaming hub, CBS News Streaming, and launched a host of new programs anchored by many of its best-known personnel, including “Person to Person,” an interview format that first gained traction under legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow.

A handful of recent reports in The New York Post and New York Times suggested CNN had made a bid for King to take over the 9 p.m. slot previously anchored by Chris Cuomo –a move that would put Gayle King in a timeslot once led by Larry King.

During her radio program, King hinted that she had other options. “You know, there’s lots of speculation about ‘what Gayle’s gonna do, where is she gonna go…Um…’is she being courted?” The answer was yes. You know ‘she has a grandchild, does she wanna move to California?” The answer is no,” she said. I mean, I don’t know why people thought that just because you have a grandchild now all of a sudden you just want to give up your career and go sit in California.”

King, a longtime confidante of Oprah Winfrey, joined CBS News in 2012, when she was part of a retooled morning program that aimed to burnish more hard news, and stories about business and foreign affairs alongside O’Donnell and Charlie Rose. The traction that show gained was upset by a decision by CBS to cut ties with Rose after many claims of sexual harassment were made against him. Rose denied the accusations.

Despite King’s popularity at the network, the CBS morning show remains in third place behind ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today.”

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