Dumped “Meet the Press” host David Gregory was close to landing at CNN, insiders say, but the network didn’t reach a deal to bring him onboard because of his big salary demands amid crushing company cost-cutting.
Page Six exclusively revealed that Gregory had met with his onetime NBC champion Jeff Zucker at CNN in August, and the two were then spotted having lunch as Gregory’s embarrassing ouster at ratings-challenged “Meet the Press” became imminent.
“Jeff was really considering hiring David,” a source familiar with the talks told us. “But they could not come up with a number to get him there.”
The source added that staff cuts of around 10 percent at CNN and its parent, Turner Broadcasting, made the deal impossible. “They were meeting around the time of the crazy layoffs at CNN, and it would have looked really bad giving out a huge contract while people were being laid off.”
Gregory earned up to $5 million a year and, according to sources, got $4 million to exit NBC before being replaced by Chuck Todd. His “Meet the Press” predecessor Tim Russert reportedly made $5 million a year as host.
Our source added that hiring Gregory for millions could have been seen as insensitive to CNN staffers, some of whom have been very vocal about the layoffs. In September, pink-slipped Capitol Hill reporter Lisa Desjardins made a viral video about being let go. This month, CNN anchor Brian Stelter’s wife, NY1’s Jamie Stelter, was criticized in a report for taking a playful selfie in front of Brian’s poster at CNN while staffers allegedly were packing up their desks nearby.
Meantime, Gregory has a part-time gig with Yahoo, which announced it had snapped up the anchor for its midterm election coverage with fellow former NBC News vet Katie Couric.
A rep for CNN and for Gregory didn’t get back to us. Gregory said in a report about his Yahoo gig, “It’s just an interesting time for me to be exploring . . . my options are pretty open right now.”