CBS News has renewed the contract of its biggest star Gayle King — even as the Tiffany Network continues to face brutal cost cuts, The Post has learned.
The 69-year-old “CBS Mornings” co-host’s decision to return to the the last-place morning show comes at a tumultuous time for CBS and parent company Paramount Global, which is in the throes of slashing $500 million from the budget ahead of its proposed merger with Hollywood studio Skydance next year.
Terms of the deal — including her compensation and length of the contract extension — couldn’t immediately be learned.
Sources speculated that King took a cut from her reported $13 million salary after weeks of hard-knuckle negotiations.
“Gayle cares about people,” a source close to King told The Post on Thursday. “She’s the kind of person who would take a pay cut in order to save jobs for her show.”
CBS and King declined to comment.
Insiders noted that the move shows that CBS News brass still values King despite the morning show’s laggard ratings, even as “CBS Evening News” has lately faced upheaval under network CEO Wendy McMahon.
“Gayle is the real deal in front of and behind the camera. This is great news for her and for CBS,” said another source close to the deal.
Last month, The Post exclusively reported that McMahon was investing in “CBS Mornings” brand with the launch of a third hour in select markets.
“Locking down Gayle King solidifies a major part of CBS, which is what the morning show is,” a third network source said.
Employees were shocked when “Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell revealed in July that she was leaving the third-placed broadcast after the presidential election to become a special correspondent.
Since then, McMahon announced a revamp of the nightly news show, which now will be co-anchored by lesser-known and less-expensive hosts, CBS News veteran John Dickerson and WCBS-TV anchorman Maurice DuBois.
Even though “CBS Mornings” — which is helmed by King, Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil — remains in third place, it has gained some ground in the advertiser-coveted demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54 against ABC standard-bearer “Good Morning America.”
According to Nielsen data for this season, “CBS Mornings” has beat “GMA” 17 times with adults 25 to 54.
In the second quarter of the year, “CBS Mornings” trailed “GMA” by just 68,000 viewers in the demo.
Overall for the quarter, CBS reeled in 2.1 million total viewers and 426,000 viewers in the demo.
It trailed “GMA,” which had 2.8 million total viewers and 494,000 demo viewers.
NBC’s “Today” grabbed 2.7 million total viewers and 620,000 viewers in the demo.
CBS insiders said that King’s coverage has helped grow “CBS Mornings” momentum, citing some of her recent interviews with music mogul Jay-Z, Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, rapper Megan thee Stallion and Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
“Why mess with something that’s working? ABC is struggling and CBS has real momentum in the morning,” a CBS insider said of King’s renewal. “This is a win-win.”