Gayle King gets unfairly labeled as “Oprah Winfrey’s BFF” implying that she wouldn’t have achieved the kind of success that she has if it wasn’t for her friendship with The Queen of the Universe. True, it sure didn’t hurt that they have been long-time friends; who wouldn’t want to be lucky enough to be a close friend with a very rich and famous person; King’s celebrity came in part as a result of that friendship.

But that totally ignores the fact that, for over 20 years, King gained extensive experience from a long career in TV journalism, as a reporter and news anchor. She has also hosted a few daytime network shows, as well as her own syndicated show in the past. She also of course had her own program on the Oprah Winfrey Network during its early years which weren’t that long ago. But what’s wrong with a friend helping out a friend?

For the past four years, King has co-anchored CBS’ early morning show, “CBS This Morning”.




Fortunately, CBS is obviously very happy with their morning team, even thought their show still trails behind NBC’s “Today Show” and ABC’s “Good Morning America” (GMA). But it’s the only morning network show that has seen steady ratings increases, instead of the opposite, which has happened with GMA.

So it’s not surprising that the network has signed King to a new three-year $16.5 million deal, or about $5.5 million a year. Pretty sweet deal certainly, though it still pales in comparison to Matt Lauer, who, a few weeks ago, signed a new deal with NBC to anchor the “Today Show” for $20 million a year until 2018, and possibly longer than that if Lauer decides to stay on.

Lauer’s deal comes despite the fact that “Today Show’s” ratings and viewership have gone flat in the last year, while “CBS This Morning” has seen its total audience grow by about 5 percent, while the key demos – adults 25-54, women 25-54 and women 18-49 – are up double digits, according to CBS, with an average daily viewership of 3.77 million.

According to a network spokesman: “Gayle is a huge asset to the show… She’s here for the long term.”