Gayle King exit from CBS depends on one decision – even though she got a major pay cut and things are shot to hell

Gayle King is no stranger to the spotlight. From her long-standing friendship with Oprah Winfrey to her role as one of the most recognized faces in morning television, King has built a career on poise in the face of chaos. Right now, though, that chaos is swirling a little too close to home.

With CBS News in turmoil, her pay slashed, and the network’s ratings plumbing new depths, King is facing a pivotal crossroads—but she’s holding her ground, waiting to see if a pending corporate merger could turn things around.

The news that Gayle King had taken a pay cut from $13 million to $10 million raised eyebrows across the industry. At first glance, it might seem like a standard adjustment in a struggling media landscape, but the number is symbolic. CBS, once considered a titan in broadcast news, is hemorrhaging viewers and losing ground to its competitors. With its morning show perpetually trailing behind ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today, the network is clearly struggling to justify its high-profile salaries.

To understand King’s hesitation, you have to look at the larger picture. CBS News is, quite frankly, in shambles. Ratings for CBS Mornings, the show King anchors alongside Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson, are dismal. For the week of May 19, the show barely scraped together two million viewers, far behind ABC’s 2.6 million and NBC’s 2.5 million. What’s worse, the network has seen a staggering 30% drop in the coveted 25-54 demographic. The leadership turnover hasn’t helped. 

Wendy McMahon, the news boss who spearheaded an overhaul of CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News, recently stepped down, citing “irreconcilable differences” with the company’s direction. Her departure leaves CBS News president Tom Cibrowski scrambling to keep the ship afloat, but the cracks are showing. Some trace the network’s downfall back to 2019, when Jeff Glor left the Evening News. That exit marked the beginning of a ratings freefall that CBS has yet to recover from. Add to that a string of controversies—most notably a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over alleged deceptive editing in a 60 Minutes interview—and you have a network that’s both struggling for relevance and drowning in legal woes.

And yet, despite the drop in pay, King isn’t walking away. Why? Because money isn’t the whole story. Industry insiders suggest that King views CBS as a “useful platform,” especially heading into politically charged events like the 2026 midterm elections. She’s betting that the network’s planned $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media could breathe new life into the struggling brand.

Her presence lends CBS a level of gravitas and star power that few others in the industry can match. Losing her would be a major blow, not just to CBS Mornings but to the network as a whole. At 70, King has little left to prove. She could walk away tomorrow and still be ed as one of the defining figures in modern television journalism. But for now, she’s staying put—and that says a lot. It suggests that she still believes in CBS, or at least in its potential to course-correct.