Behind the scenes, America’s highest paid TV stars are sweating. There’s blood in the water… and all bets are off!

America’s highest paid news stars are dropping like flies – and those still standing have their heads on a swivel.

That’s according to a high-level network executive who spoke to the Daily Mail this week to describe the desperate state of the once-glamorous industry. 

The picture they painted was far from a pretty one – rife with anxiety, pressure, and vulnerability.  

Ratings are falling across the board and there have been repeated rounds of layoffs, described by some as a ‘five-alarm fire’.

A parade major figures like NBC News’ Lester Holt and CBS’ Norah O’Donnell suddenly stepping away from their highly prized jobs has only added fuel to the fire, while Hoda Kotb left the Today show on NBC after 17 years.

‘There is uncertainty everywhere in the industry,’ said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘With anchor and programming changes, there are real worries at NBC News and CBS in particular.’

The source described how after the departure of ‘icons like Hoda [Kotb] and Lester… their replacements are failing to fill those shoes. Lester was already down by so much [to ABC], and now NBC is nervous after putting in [Tom] Llamas.’

Llamas – praised as a pillar of ‘integrity’ and ‘journalistic excellence’ by NBC News executive Janelle Rodriguez last week – is ‘much lesser known’, the source went on, adding that the same goes for Kotb’s replacement Craig Melvin. 

‘Craig Melvin is obviously no Hoda … he does not seem to be working.’ 

Ratings released this week showed how NBC’s morning show was overtaken by rival ABC’s Good Morning America.

In some respite amid a decades-long rivalry between the two, Today is beating GMA in total viewers and the demo for the first time in eight years.

Nightly has beat ABC World News multiple times in the key demo, including back-to-back Thursdays in February, as well as most recently on Friday, when Tom Llamas subbed in.

Amid all this, FOX News appear to be bucking the trend. The Rupert Murdoch-owned network just had its highest rated January and February in history, and is beating other broadcast networks. 

ABC, meanwhile, suffered a round of layoffs last week – and audiences for its crown jewel Good Morning America are down on last year. 

David Muir is ahead in the ratings with his World News Tonight. 

It’ll be down to Holt’s replacement, Tom Llamas, to bridge the gap, as Holt defers his duties solely to Dateline. 

‘Lester is already down 1.5million viewers a night, and they’re now looking at it like – “will this backfire?”‘ 

‘And then you’ve got CBS, which is under serious pressure from not only the administration but also [the network’s billionaire owner] Shari Redstone,’ the source went on.

A former CBS exec told the Mail how the decision for anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson to co-host CBS Evening News was being viewed ‘as a disaster’ internally. 

‘[CBS Evenings Executive Producer] Bill Owens is also overstretched,’ they added, echoing the other exec’s opinion.

A more magazine-style coverage brought by DuBois and Dickerson – and reportedly masterminded by longtime 60 Minutes stalwart Owens – further raised eyebrows, noticeably different from famed anchor Walter Cronkite’s style in the 1960s and 1970s, the source said.

This deviation from tradition was also accompanied by a further high-profile exit – the sudden ‘resignation’ of CBS President of Editorial and Newsgathering Adrienne Roark, just seven months after she had accepted the position.

At the time, a source familiar with the matter claimed that Roark had actually been forced out – after being caught shopping for a new job.

CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon became aware of the unsanctioned search and retaliated, according to an insider – showing the ruthless nature of the industry.

‘They brought back former president Susan [Zirinsky] just to get rid of her,’ the source revealed. 

They added that McMahon, despite being CEO, does not have the editorial experience to lead such an outfit.

They added that McMahon – after bringing on CBS’s Owens to help her out with struggling CBS Evenings – will likely lose her job this year, ahead of the planned $8billion merger between CBS parent Paramount and Larry Ellison-backed Skydance.

Less senior staffers, meanwhile, are said to be ‘disillusioned’ by the merger – largely because their new boss would be Paramount’s Jeff Shell, who was ousted from his post as NBCUniversal’s CEO in 2023 following a years-long extramarital affair with a staffer. 

Shell’s philandering, however, was reportedly not what infuriated staffers – instead, it was his insistence to placate Donald Trump back in October.

President Trump is suing CBS, demanding $20 billion and claiming the network deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in an attempt to boost her election prospects. CBS has denied the allegations.

The case is ongoing and has left Paramount heiress Redstone desperate to settle.

In the months since, sources have described the atmosphere at CBS as akin to a civil war.

Owens and McMahon – the two biggest voices in CBS’s newsroom – remain convinced that withstanding the pressure is the only option.

This week, another network executive, also speaking anonymously, told the Mail that CBS’s struggles stem from the fact that ‘no one there has accepted that linear TV [delivered by satellite or cable] is in decline.

‘They’ve really focused on broadcasting, but they haven’t expanded well.’

The source also suggested ABC News could soon be in for a rude awakening, considering its lack of stars aside from figures like Muir.

‘ABC did not even have a head of talent for years,’ the executive said, adding that, when compared with other networks: ‘ABC’s salaries are very hefty.’

‘GMA3 is not there anymore – they don’t have a bench, meaning they can’t replace talent,’ the source said.

‘No one is dealing with it – I don’t know what they’re gonna do. All their stars also have contracts that come up at the same time.’

Media critic Steve Krakauer told the Mail that CBS’s reputation has been forever tarnished.

The former CNN, Fox News, and NBC journalist described how CBS and other ‘legacy’ media outlets – including CNN – are in severe reputational difficulty after presenting politicized content as fact under the Biden administration.

‘The business is still making good money and profits are still high, but there is nothing they can do to stop these natural declines,’ he said, weeks after CNN issued a series of layoffs within its bloated TV division.

‘They could be doing the best, with perfect editorial, and every day, fewer people are going to view their content,’ Krakauer, now the executive producer of the Megyn Kelly show, went on.

‘And these outlets are also not perfect editorial products – they are completely unprepared for this Trump 2.0 era we’re in.

‘They were already in trouble, but Trump has solidified the idea,’ he continued, referring to the president’s recent rhetoric bashing such stations, as well as his complaints against ABC, NBC, and CBS and their election coverage.

‘Outlets were reporting on what they believed Trump was for the past eight years – and the 2024 election results were a complete rejection of those ideas,’ Krakauer said, framing the development as a crisis ‘for the business of news.’

‘If your conceit is to tell people what’s true, and to be rejected – that’s a five alarm fire,’ he continued.

‘And I think [these legacy stations] see that.’

‘CBS is about to be acquired by what is essentially a venture capital firm – and when you have a piece of your business losing money, that means more cuts,’ he explained.

‘The Trump lawsuit too, is not a good look.

‘CBS no longer exists a year for now, unless it revamps,’ he concluded. ‘It’s not long for this world.

‘There’s still value to it, but it’s going the wrong direction and there’s nothing to do to stop it. And they’ve actually accelerated their decline as an antagonist to the administration.

‘That worked the first time around – but in Trump 2.0, it’s being viewed very differently: it’s not gonna work anymore.’

He added:  ‘Aside from content, [legacy stations] need to transfer their business to a digital model, which they are not prepared to do.

‘They are in the position of no longer offering objective news – which is not a good business model.

‘They don’t want to present themselves as opinion, unlike MSNBC, so they’re now in a tough spot.’

Media journalist Oliver Darcy left CNN last year for what he felt to be greener pastures, starting nightly newsletter Status six months ago.

Outspoken Trump critic Jim Acosta also left CNN earlier this year, taking shots at the president on-air in the process.

Longtime Meet the Press Moderator Chuck Todd left NBC News as well, taking his podcast with him. 

‘There is a real business in independent media these days – it’s obvious,’ Krakauer said.

‘There’s a proven way to make money in independent media. That lights another fire under legacy media outlets. I do feel like something significant has changed, 2024 was the calm before the storm. 2025 is the storm.’

Meanwhile, Brendan Carr’s Federal Communications Commission is opening investigations into Verizon and Comcast – the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC – over the legality of their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The president has threatened to go after other networks as well, while taking shots at specific journalists. 

This included MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and a freshly fired Joy Reid, whom a separate executive at the network said was nixed not for her ratings, but her contentious, opinionated content.

All the sources appeared to agree one one thing, though – that linear TV is on its last legs.