CNN anchor Chris Wallace was reportedly advised his two poorly rated reveals can be canceled and his large wage slashed earlier than the veteran journalist introduced he would depart the community.
Wallace, who was being paid a reported $7 million a yr, was knowledgeable that he was welcome to remain on as an analyst however at a a lot decrease wage as a part of CEO Mark Thompson’s huge cost-cutting initiatives, in line with Puck Information.
As an alternative, Wallace introduced earlier this week that he was exiting CNN, and portrayed the transfer in a Day by day Beast interview as a pivot to podcasting and streaming — as a result of “that’s where the action seems to be,” he stated.
Wallace insisted that he wasn’t engaged in any discussions with CNN brass a couple of future function, claiming he made the choice to depart earlier than any discussions befell.
“It doesn’t matter what was or wasn’t said in that meeting because I had already decided with my wife six months ago to leave CNN,” Wallace advised Puck Information on Thursday. “Any further speculation is irrelevant.”
Wallace, who spent three years at CNN and 18 years at Fox Information, stated in his exit interview with the Beast that he was “excited” to be “between jobs.”
“This is the first time in 55 years I’ve been between jobs. I am actually excited and liberated by that,” he stated. “Not knowing is part of the challenge. I‘m waiting to see what comes over the transom. It might be something that I haven’t thought of at all.”
CNN employed Wallace in 2021 to be one in every of its massive stars to helm its nascent streaming service, CNN+.
However as quickly as Discovery merged with CNN-parent Warner Media to kind Warner Bros. Discovery, new administration axed the costly CNN+ and lots of of staffers.
Wallace stayed on and launched his reveals, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” a weekly interview collection that was initially purported to air on CNN+ however now airs on Max, and Saturday morning panel dialogue program “The Chris Wallace Show.”
Each packages suffered flagging scores — and there was a lot buzz amongst business sources for a while that the anchor wouldn’t get one other profitable contract, particularly as CNN was going through its personal abysmal scores and overhaul below Thompson.
Earlier this week, it was reported that CNN suffered its worst ranking in a key demographic in 1 / 4 of a century within the week after the presidential election.
That amounted to a mean of 61,000 viewers between ages 25 and 54 tuned in on Tuesday, every week after the vote, making it the smallest viewers viewership in that demo since June 27, 2000, when Invoice Clinton was within the White Home.
Primetime protection — between 8 and 11 p.m. — additionally noticed sinking scores with a mean of 483,000 since Election Day.
Fox Information reeled in 3.4 million, in line with the community.
In the meantime, in its most up-to-date broadcast, “The Chris Wallace Show” drew 450,000 viewers and simply 85,000 within the advertiser-coveted 25-to-54-year-old demo, in line with Puck.
The scores definitely didn’t justify Wallace’s princely wage at a community that’s slated to slash lots of of jobs within the coming months.
CNN higher-ups are additionally taking a scalpel to the salaries of its largest names.
Lately, the community denied raises to Jake Tapper, who makes a reported $7 million, and to Wolf Blitzer, who’s believed to make roughly $3 million.
