CONTRACT SHOWDOWN: PETER JENNINGS FACES DRAMATIC PAY CUT; STANDS TO LOSE MILLIONS (FULL STORY!!!)

DRUDGE REPORT ^ | April 24, 2002 | Matt Drudge

[PJ-Comix]

Okay, here is the full story. It sounds to me this isn't really about budget cutting. It's more like ABC News JUST wants Jennings to LEAVE!!!

[occam's chainsaw]

Well, one can hope that's the case.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Heh heh heh.

[eureka!]

I think the beauty of this piece is Drudge's making it public. The elitists' egos probably do not receive it very well and any pain for them helps make up for the pain they have, and continue to inflict, on this great nation....

[Wright is right!]

Watch for Brokaw to do as I said he would - accept an Emeritus position, produce some 6-8 news specials per year, and vacate the Nightly chair in favor of either Brian Williams or current weekender John Siegenthaler (an old Nashville native).

As for Jennings - the net will probably do him more favors than Charlie Gibson, but then ya never know. What I'm guessing they'll do is some sort of deferred compensation, something to get him in under the league-mandated Salary Cap...oh, wait. That's another sport. Um, never mind.

Michael

[hawaiian]

Disney is in big trouble, period. Most of their businesses are in deep crap, and the whole ABC Network is WAY behind CBS and NBC, flirting with Fox and UPN.

[InvisibleChurch]

i wonder if they are planting the seeds for future layoffs, maybe for the summer, that would include 100's of abc employees...after all, they wouldn't REALLY git rid of peterjennings, unless of course cbsandnbc dump their talking heads, too?

it's also interesting that abc was considering paying letterman a bundle to join the abc (of course, that's because the newsdivision stinx and future monies are available through the entertainmentdivision)

[11th Commandment]

I wonder how many times Jennings has railed on CEO pay, while at the same time, he is earning $10MM per year over a news network the continues to lose market share!

[PJ-Comix]

It will be interesting to watch Jennings on his newscast tonight. I will be looking to see if Jennings appears as angry as the time he announced that Katherine Harris certified Bush as the winner of Florida's electoral votes.

[jrlc]

Let's see if Jennings stays as Communist as ever when it comes to cutting his own pay. HaHaHaHaHa!

[Mo1]

Oh the dilemma Jennings is in .. the poor thang

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[dead]

It is not immediately clear if Jennings will consider a reduction in pay and stay on at ABC NEWS.

What else is he going to do.

He has other skills, but using safety scissors and eating paste doesn’t pay nearly as well.

[firebrand]

I have a really busy day today, but I just had to take time out to express my deep sorrow on Peter's loss of 2.5 million a year.

[Joe Bonforte]

..."current weekender John Siegenthaler (an old Nashville native)"

Please tell me he's not as liberal as his dad (former publisher of the Tennessean).

[mombonn]

As for Jennings - the net will probably do him more favors than Charlie Gibson, but then ya never know.

Of the two, I'd rather see charlie gone - his easy-going demeanor more cleverly masks his bias. At least with peetah, his agenda is very evident.

[SerpentDove]

Excuse me....while I...

BWAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA

*sniff*

BWAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA

*sniff*....that's better now...

BWAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA

[NewEnglander]

Hey Peter, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Good bye and good riddance. HOPE! HOPE! HOPE!

[PJ-Comix]

Maybe Peter Jennings can enlist the aid of those Harvard "Living Wage" folks. After all, we can't expect an anchorman to live on a mere $7.5 million per year when he is used to $10 million per year.

[DoughtyOne]

I'll just bet that there might be some willing individual out there that would read on the air for a few hundred thou a year. Ah, what do I know... Of course it costs at least $7.5 to $10 million to get a good reader.

[SBeck]

Here's another take, network news is a loss leader that can't compete with the cable outlets. ABC is testing the waters for the eventual removal of evening news shows and replace it with something that is far more profitable. Look for CBS and NBC to key off whatever happens during this negotiation.