CBS News has denied reports that anchor Gayle King is pushing Norah O’Donnell out of “This Morning,” according to reports.
According to a source, King demanded that O’Donnell be moved off the show as part of her contract negotiations, the Post reported.
King was in the spotlight recently after she interviewed beleaguered singer R. Kelly, triggering a series of animated outbursts from the musician.
“Gayle King is expected to remain at the program, and will be flanked by Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil, according to two people familiar with the matter,” the magazine reported. “As Variety reported in February and March, CBS News has other plans for King’s two current co-anchors, John Dickerson and Norah O’Donnell. Dickerson is widely expected to take up a role with ‘60 Minutes,’ according to people familiar with talks, while O’Donnell has been in discussions to take over the anchor seat at ‘CBS Evening News.’”
It further said that CBS is looking to tap King’s popularity after her R. Kelly and Ralph Northam interviews. “This Morning” has lagged behind NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” in recent years.
Christa Robinson, a CBS spokeswoman, told NBC News of the reports, “We are not engaging in speculation.”
“There’s no bad blood between Norah and Gayle, in fact they are very close,” another person who is friends with O’Donnell told the Post. The person said King and O’Donnell “are close friends.”
“In her 20-plus year career in news, she’s become an unquestioned leader in her field,” O’Donnell’s agent and UTA Co-President Jay Sures added to the newspaper.
On April 30, it was reported that the “Today” show was the No. 1 morning show in April, topping “GMA” and “This Morning.”
The NBC report noted that “This Morning” lost about 8 percent of its total audience, which amounts to about 264,000 viewers.