Amid a massive shake-up at CBS News, Page Six has exclusively learned that “CBS This Morning” anchor Norah O’Donnell has been given an “expanded role” at the network’s flagship “60 Minutes.”
O’Donnell — who has been tipped to replace the struggling anchor Jeff Glor of “CBS Evening News” — is already a contributor to the venerable CBS news magazine. But we’re told that — amid Gayle King’s big-money contract negotiations with CBS — O’Donnell has been assigned her own team of “60 Minutes” producers to work on her projects.
Stories for the show can often take six months or more, and the move means O’Donnell will have a dedicated team. It’s hoped that the plan will free her up to generate more hard-hitting, well-researched stories for the 51-year-old show.
At “60 Minutes,” there have been other big moves. After longtime producer Jeff Fager was ousted in September for sending a threatening text to a colleague who was working on a story about him, Bill Owens was named as a new executive producer.
At “CBS This Morning,” Bianna Golodryga exited the show as one of four co-hosts last week, and Page Six has reported that the network is angling to sign King to a new contract, which could see her current $5.5 million-a-year deal more than double.
There have also been discussions to move co-anchor John Dickerson from “CBS This Morning” to “60 Minutes,” under CBS News president Susan Zirinsky.
Page Six reported that potentially moving O’Donnell to take over “CBS Evening News” could entail moving the broadcast from New York to DC. But CBS insiders insist that Glor remains in the anchor chair and O’Donnell is contracted to “This Morning” until 2020.
O’Donnell won the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for excellence in presidential news coverage for a “60 Minutes” interview with Joe Biden in 2016.
A rep for O’Donnell didn’t get back to us, and a CBS rep declined to comment.