David Gregory Has Four Million Reasons to Stay Quiet About Leaving 'Meet the Press'
Last week, our long, national nightmare revolving around the fate of Meet the Press host David Gregory reached its conclusion when the anchor with two first names was replaced by Chuck Todd, another anchor with two first names.
Here were Gregory's anodyne tweets after word came across the transom:
I leave NBC as I came - humbled and grateful. I love journalism and serving as moderator of MTP was the highest honor there is . (1 of 2)
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) August 14, 2014
(2 of 2) I have great respect for my colleagues at NBC News and wish them all well. To the viewers, I say thank you.
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) August 14, 2014
All this good-natured #blessed talk seemed odd considering the duration of Gregory's public twisting amid bad ratings, dramatic talk of psychological concerns and brand consultants, and conjecture about his imminent replacement. This seems in large part due to the fact that Gregory is possibly a nice guy.
So weird. @MeetThePress sub host Mitchell salutes @DavidGregory at end of show he wasn't allowed to anchor. http://t.co/tELxjb8Jvm
— Deborah Potter (@TVNewsLab) August 18, 2014
But as we're finding out, this also had to do with a $4 million agreement between Gregory and NBC that Page Six is reporting:
A source said Gregory’s contract extended into next year, so NBC had to pay him for the rest of the term, plus an extra fee to ensure his silence.
Word of the payout brought about sighs and verbal shrugs:
So one firing/buyout of David Gregory = roughly 7 years of Jill Abramson #TVwages http://t.co/yos3kta96F
— Michael Schaffer (@michaelschaffer) August 18, 2014
Gregory and Leno got more money NOT to work on NBC than most of us could ever dream of making. #NBC #MeetThePress. http://t.co/Ni7vekToTI
— Ira Kutis (@ikoo1) August 18, 2014
If Chuck Todd doesn't work, I'm sure there's someone else out there with two first names.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/08/david-gregory-has-four-million-reasons-to-stay-quiet-about-leaving-meet-the-press/378682/