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Report: Clinton Discussing His Own TV Talk Show
Thu May 2, 6:51 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton has met with NBC executives in Los Angeles to discuss hosting his own talk show, according to several television sources, The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.
Although the talks are only preliminary, one source said Clinton's interest was serious and said he was demanding a fee of $50 million a year and had aspirations "of becoming the next Oprah Winfrey," the paper said.
NBC officials would not comment on Wednesday, and Clinton's office in New York did not respond to an inquiry about the prospective talk show.
Television industry sources say chances are slim that Clinton would commit to such a plan once he understands the demands of the job, the Times said. The 55-year-old former president has told some Hollywood executives who have asked about a potential TV career that the rumors are untrue.
Television executives doubted that Clinton would sign up for a demanding regimen of daily tapings for 39 weeks that such a show would require.
There is no precedent for such a TV deal with a former president, the paper said, although Richard Nixon stirred controversy in 1975 when talk show host David Frost paid him $600,000 for a series of interviews.
The Times said there was also speculation in TV circles this week that Clinton was meeting with CBS. But Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Television, said his company has had no meeting with the former president and called the idea of a Clinton talk show ridiculous.
Clinton has been making a handsome living since leaving the White House from speeches that pay $125,000 to $300,000 apiece. That is on top of his $12 million book deal.
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