Hoda Kotb’s tearful exit from the Today show on Thursday revealed the pay changes female TV hosts are currently experiencing.
The reality is that networks could be moving away from using veteran talent that has graced America’s television screens for years.
Money is the most important factor in this possible decision.
Hoda, 60, earned more than $20 million a year at NBC. album news reported.
Her co-host Savannah Guthrie, who referred to Hoda as “our sunshine,” earns about the same.
Hoda Kotb’s tearful exit from the Today show on Thursday revealed the pay changes female TV hosts are currently experiencing.
Hoda, 60, earned more than $20 million a year at NBC, Puck News reported.
Her co-host Savannah Guthrie, who referred to Hoda as “our sunshine,” earns about the same.
Hoda said her reasoning for leaving was to finish her career on a high and spend more time with her children.
But the economic realities of broadcast media are putting pressure on the amount of payouts companies like NBC can make by giving up contracts with their experienced talent.
Today and Good Morning America averaged around 5 million viewers about a decade ago, now their audiences have dropped by half.
And as its viewers age, its influence on younger audiences is almost non-existent: around 600,000 viewers in the 25-54 age range.
Companies like NBC now rely on paying their female hosts significantly less than the millions they shelled out to hosts like Hoda and Savannah.
Kaitlan Collins, 32, is the host of The Source, which airs at 9 pm on CNN.
He’s making $3 million a year, which Puck News speculates would have been double if he had entered the industry a decade ago.
Kaitlan Collins, 32, is the host of The Source, which airs at 9 p.m. on CNN. He makes $3 million a year, which Puck News speculates would have been double if he had entered the industry a decade ago.
NBC’s Rachel Maddow appears to be an outlier in this trend: She earns $30 million a year for hosting one night a week.
NBC’s Rachel Maddow appears to be an outlier in this trend: She earns $30 million a year for hosting one night a week.
But Puck News said sources informed them the next contract would not offer a raise.
Even Skydance-Paramount’s CBS News is experiencing a cost-cutting future that revealed the company plans to phase out Norah O’Donnell from CBS Evening News and replace her with a rotating cast of less financially demanding anchors.
Not even Savannah could reach the heights that Matt Lauer achieved with a staggering $25 million, before being toppled by a sexual harassment scandal in 2017.
But the phasing out of veteran talent will most likely accelerate when it comes time to renew and renegotiate contracts.