Gayle King ‘Still Believes Celebrities Are Lucky’ to Be Invited to ‘CBS Mornings’ Despite Ratings Dip

CBS Mornings is struggling with weak viewership, but Gayle King is reportedly on a different wavelength.

For the week of July 13, the morning television program had an average viewership of 1.59 million, marking the first time the program’s average fell below 1.6 million since ratings have been tracked, Mediaite reported, citing Nielsen data.

In the Friday, July 24 edition of Rob Shuter‘s Naughty But Nice Substack, a source said King, 71, is still operating as if they can get all A-listers on, but “the problem is Hollywood has noticed the ratings.”

A second source explained that publicists want their clients to reach larger audiences.

“The first question publicists ask isn’t, ‘Who’s doing the interview?’ It’s, ‘How many people are watching?'” the source claimed. “Lately, that’s become a very uncomfortable conversation.”

Shuter reported that the broadcast journalist’s strong interview skills aren’t the problem.

“Gayle still believes celebrities are lucky to get the invitation,” the insider alleged. “Meanwhile, half of Hollywood is politely saying they’re ‘already booked’ — for just about anything else.”

A source told The New York Post in an article published on Thursday, July 23, that CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, who took charge of the show this year at the behest of Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, is “dead meat.”

“I know Bari might not care about the show, but it is embarrassing when you hit all-time lows,” the source added.

As the National Enquirer previously reported, Weiss has made many changes to the network since being hired last fall, including terminating beloved CBS correspondent Scott Pelley.