Clinton crony George Stephanopoulos is facing increased pressure at ABC now that morning-show competitors Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose have been kicked to the curb over sexual misconduct allegations, and his eight-figure salary is sticking out like a sore thumb as NBC rolls out a fun-loving and far less expensive team during the first two hours of arch-rival “Today.”
The former top aide to the Clintons and close friend of Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is believed to earn roughly $15 million dollars a year at ABC, according to Business Insider, even though his role on “Good Morning America” is limited largely to political and hard-news stories and the show favors lighter stories more suited for ebullient co-hosts Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer.
At the same time, the icy anchor’s cachet has diminished significantly with Hillary Clinton’s failure to win the White House and his cadre of Democratic friends on the outs in Washington with the end of the Obama administration.
“He doesn’t bring much to the table anymore,” said an ABC insider, who noted that “’GMA’ covers barely any news. It’s not clear why he’s sitting there.”
NBC announced on Tuesday that it would stay in-house to replace disgraced former “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, naming Hoda Kotb as permanent co-host. She is perhaps best known for swilling wine and trading jokes with Kathie Lee Gifford in the show’s 10 a.m. ET hour — something she will continue to do, in addition to the new gig. “Today” has been beating “GMA” for the first time in years since Kotb stepped in after Lauer’s dramatic firing in November, perhaps issuing in a sea change in the highly competitive morning TV wars.– READ MORE
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