Money must talk for Clinton to accept TV role

BILL CLINTON is in new discussions with United States TV bosses to host a daytime talk show which could net him up to $55 million a year.

Associates of the former US president have held a series of meetings with the CBS network after negotiations with the rival NBC station broke down last month. According to the New York Times, CBS executives said Mr Clinton had offered assurances that under the right circumstances he would host a show.

Speculation that the 56-year-old was planning to host a show first surfaced in May, but his spokesman dismissed the reports, saying he had only held courtesy meetings with TV companies.

Since then his associates have discussed in more detail the possibility of hosting a syndicated talk show with NBC and CBS, at a salary of 31million to 55million a year.

NBC executives said they were confident Mr Clinton would have agreed to do a show if the terms were right.

“I honestly believed he would do it,” one negotiator said.

“I never believed his interest was bogus.”

Mr Clinton’s associates said he had become tired of relying on speaking engagements for cash and was keen to start a new career as a talkshow host, the negotiator said.

But serious differences existed over money, he said. Mr Clinton’s demands would make him the highest paid first-time talk show host.

It also remains unclear what kind of show Mr Clinton wants to do, whether he would concentrate on public affairs or be prepared to do lighter items such as celebrity interviews.

Mr Clinton’s lawyer Robert Barnett said: “The president has received an enormous number of offers from broadcast television, cable television, the internet, print and radio.

“We have no immediate plans to make any media deals. When the time comes a proper announcement will be forthcoming.”