With his departure from “Live with Regis and Kelly” looming, Regis Philbin’s real reason for ending his long run on the daytime talk show has come out, the New York Post reports.
According to the story, it’s all about money. Buena Vista TV wanted him to take a pay cut, the Post reports. Philbin is in the last year of a contract that he signed in 2008 that reportedly pays him $21 million annually.
An industry insider quoted in the story says Philbin was unhappy with the tenor of the negotiations to extend his deal: “They were negotiating, and he didn’t like what they were offering. And they were very foolish — there aren’t a lot of [syndicated] hits and ‘Live’ is a cash cow, so why risk Regis leaving?”
Asked to comment for the Post story, a "Live" spokesperson said, "This is just old gossip rehashing yet again."
Philbin’s departure from “Live,” announced way back in January, is set for Nov. 18, with the host agreeing to stay on long enough to carry the show through November sweeps.
Philbin, who recently turned 80, is not retiring from show business — just the "Live" show. He has reportedly taped a reality TV pilot in Los Angeles.
How much of a pay cut? It had to be a lot….
First this is all about business and paying that kind of money to Regis annually is not a money-maker for Disney ABC Domestic Television. By the way they haven’t been Buena Vista Television for a few years.
Second Regis is old. His viewers are old. And you can’t sell that demo to advertisers. As much as we all believe Regis is cool, it’s all about the future of daytime TV and with the soap opera genre in the same older demo status, Disney is smart to revamp that show with a younger host next to Kelly Ripa.
Third, with Katie Couric coming on board with ABC in daytime and the network dropping the soaps, the landscape has changed dramatically in that all programming has to be connected in content which transitions viewers from one show to the next. The recycling of the daytime viewer on ABC will need to have Whomever and Kelly, The View and Katie attracting the same user. And this move with Regis ensures that effort which will not only keep their viewers engaged in all daytime ABC content but advertisers can strip content across all shows as well.
Smart move by ABC. No one’s trashing Regis. But this is business about the future not of the past.
Katie will be a train wreck. Once you go serious, there’s no going back to fluff. Ask Jane Pauley. Regis is a proven winner and the show makes a lot of money. Buena Vista will regret its decision.