TV news experts can tell you the moment the world changed for high-priced anchor talent: Nov. 29, 2017, the day Matt Lauer was fired from NBC’s “”Today” amid shocking allegations of sexual misconduct. As a quick fix, NBC News turned to Hoda Kotb to replace Lauer as co-host alongside Savannah Guthrie for the show’s main 7-9 a.m. broadcast. And then the network braced for impact.
But the crash never came. “Today’s” ratings actually improved after Lauer, who earned about $20 million a year. That’s a testament to the show and the strength of Kotb and Guthrie as a team. And it was definitely a wake-up call for the industry.
“This kind of myth has been created that if this person leaves, the program is doomed to fail,” says one news veteran. “It’s driven by the idea that you’re afraid that if he leaves, everything will fall apart. Then they fire him and force him to leave, and it doesn’t hurt. “I think it’s a pivotal moment for counterattacking executive thinking around these morning show people.”
Late last month, Kotb reached his own scandal-free crossroads. The much-loved host, who established herself as host of the 10 a.m. show before being tapped to replace Lauer, saw her salary rise in the years that followed. But as a new round of contract negotiations approached, Kotb faced a significant pay cut on a salary now estimated to be in the range of $10 million to $15 million a year.
It was certainly Kotb’s call to leave “Today,” but the promise of having to absorb a substantial pay cut may well have accelerated his timeline. “I realized it was time to turn the page at 60 and try something new,” Kotb told viewers on Sept. 26 while revealing that she would be leaving “Today” early next year.
Kotb’s pending departure from NBC News is a high-profile example of television’s new austerity push when it comes to talent and production costs, especially in long-running franchises like “Today.” NBC got rid of the band on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and reduced the frequency of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” from five nights a week to four.
CBS has also wielded the budget ax on news and late-night shows. Norah O’Donnell will leave her position as anchor of “CBS Evening News” next month after the presidential election, another budget-driven decision. (O’Donnell, moving to a “60 Minutes” program and specials, will be replaced by the rotating partnership of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois.) “The Late Late Show” was canceled after the departure of James Corden. It was replaced by the much cheaper “After Midnight” comedy competition format.
Even in the world of sports broadcasting, ESPN fired hosts like Robert Griffin III and Sam Ponder. “Everyone is wondering how this can be turned into a business.” says a source. “How do we do it in a way that allows us to preserve it for the future? Nobody tries to make it profitable anymore. It’s like, how do we make it sustainable?
Furthermore, leaders of television news organizations have no choice but to confront the long-term prospect of declining linear broadcast audiences. Live news viewership is becoming increasingly gray as younger consumers get more news from social media and alternatives to traditional broadcast news.
“It is clear that they want to reduce costs,” says an agent of the chains. “Those salaries of more than $20 million are no longer justified.”
Why is this happening now? Blame the content downturn, brought on by the perfect storm of cord cutting, changing business models, global and national political unrest, a whiplash economy, and then the recent Hollywood strikes. It’s a media implosion that has led leaders to rethink the cost structure of every aspect of the business. And talent salaries are certainly a big target.
Perhaps the most affected will be the television faces who are not household names, even if they have constant performances in front of the cameras. Think of midday anchors on cable news networks who make up to $750,000 a year; They probably won’t be able to reach that kind of salary again, media experts say.
But as networks begin to move away from the star system, some bigger names may also get lost in the shuffle. A recent example is Jeff Glor, who had even hosted the “CBS Evening News” for two years (2017-2019), but in 2024 he was seen as expendable and shown the door.
In this environment, talent representatives closely follow the ABC series “Good morning America”, which has high overhead expenses coming from the salaries of its three main presenters: Robin Roberts, George Stephanopolous and Michael Strahan. Stephanopolous’ contract is believed to expire first and it is expected to be a tense renegotiation. Over at celebrity.land, a similar count is underway as new president and CEO Mark Thompson looks to adjust compensation: Some top stars face a pay cut, and even superstars have to settle for, at most, a stable salary without increase.
The tough decisions made in the future will be less about an emotional standpoint (“These are big names that I don’t want my competitor to have”) and more about “Does this person move the needle?” The stars who “move the needle” could face a compensation cut, but they will still be paid generously by the standards of ordinary Americans.
Into that category fall hosts like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who only hosts one show a week, but her power is easily measured by how that hour does in comparison to the rest of the week. Maddow currently earns around $30 million a year. It’s almost impossible to imagine her leading that in the future. In celebrity.land, Anderson Cooper may not be a ratings powerhouse, but he is a mainstay of that network, having just won five more News Emmy Awards for the cable operator.
With so few stars on CBS, Gayle King is a titan, but even she is believed to have taken a pay cut in her recent contract renegotiation, compared to her previous $13 million a year contract. That is very far from
what she could have taken advantage of a decade ago.
“There are certain people who are so identified with their networks or their entities that they will always pay them well, no matter what,” says one agent. “But look, we have cord cuts and we have audiences going to different places to watch their programming. Several of these entities are seeing their income decrease. “That’s just a fact of life.”
‘ This article may contain information published by third parties, some details of this article were extracted from the following source: variety.com ‘
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