Get to the bag mam! Gayle King is set to become the highest-priced ticket at CNN, according to an exclusive with RadarOnline.
As the struggling cable giant finalizes a deal to add King amid the network’s lowest ratings in decades, she is set to pocket at least $12 million per year for one hour of work.
The as-yet untitled or announced show will see King parachute into the primetime slot to save CNN after its collapse in the wake of Chris Cuomo’s ousting.
With the network facing an existential crisis amid a staff revolt, bitter in-fighting, a revolving door of exits, and tanking numbers, King, 68, faced the prospect of being able to “write her own check” as a demand, according to a well-placed television source.
This month, CNN finished the quarter with the smallest primetime audience in the key demo since 1991.
This new deal will be north of $12 million per year to front a once-weekly primetime show, potentially alongside former NBA star Charles Barkley, who is signed to TNT, a CNN stablemate.
Barkley earns a whopping $10 million at TBS where he is a co-host of Inside the NBA in a deal said to be worth, in total, more than $100 million.
“Gayle will not only be the highest paid person at CNN, she and Charles will be the highest paid on-air pair,” “It will also make Gayle one of the highest people on television when you add her CBS contract into the mix.”
