Norah O’Donnell is set to host “CBS Mornings” next week — sparking chatter that she might be poised to return to the morning show after a seven-year hiatus, sources told The Post.
O’Donnell, who had co-hosted the network’s highly-rated morning show — then called “CBS This Morning” — with Gayle King and Charlie Rose, will return to hosting duties next week when she’s in the Northeast for her book tour.
It is unclear if the move is a test to see if there’s any chemistry between King, O’Donnell, and co-host Nate Burleson, as top brass is looking to overhaul the struggling, last-place program.
A source close to CBS threw cold water on that idea, saying that O’Donnell is not being considered for the role and is instead part of a rotating cast of people to help fill in the gaps until a third co-host is named.
But some sources aren’t buying it.
According to two insiders, network higher-ups including CBS editor in chief Bari Weiss, asked O’Donnell to return to “CBS Mornings” next Monday through Wednesday — despite her hectic promotional tour.
A source close to the situation said Weiss has remarked that O’Donnell and King had been able to deliver strong ratings when they co-hosted the show together — begging the question if they could do it again.
“If you are going to promote a book, you could do segments on it, you don’t have to have them co-host,” a CBS source said, adding that the network could be looking to test out the correspondent as it moves to overhaul the morning program.
CBS News declined to comment.
Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski are looking for ways to revitalize the ratings and the show while keeping costs down — a tricky task — that may include moving King off the show, sources said.
One CBS insider speculated that bringing O’Donnell back could be a “negotiation tactic” to put pressure on King to ink a lesser deal. “Is this a shot across the bow?” the person asked.
“They’re definitely going to make some big changes on ‘CBS Mornings,’” the source said. “There are a lot of moving parts and they’re trying to figure it out.”
The Post has previously reported that King’s salary of between $13 million and $15 million is too high, and she could move to a lower paid role, such as special correspondent, or take a pay cut a stay on another year. Sources have also speculated that Burleson, who is said to make several million, could be part of the shake-up.
On Monday, 52-year-old O’Donnell is kicking off a 13-city book tour for her new book “We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America” on Monday where she will be interviewed by King at Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side at 6pm.
After hosting “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday, she will head to Boston for an evening event and return to New York for Wednesday’s morning show, before heading to Baltimore for day-three of her tour.
One of CBS’ more prominent faces, O’Donnell has been more on the fringes of the network since she was ousted as “CBS Evening News” anchor last year.
The former anchor still serves as a contributor to “60 Minutes” and as a special correspondent, bringing in sitdowns President Trump, covering the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, as well as hosting a recent town hall with Gov. Wes Moore.
“Norah’s career is being resurrected under Bari Weiss,” said an insider, who noted that O’Donnell is “dying” to be back in the spotlight and would likely welcome the move back to any anchor chair at the network.
Before O’Donnell was pushed out “Evening News,” the journalist minted some ratings wins when she was co-host of “CBS This Morning” with King and Rose from 2012 to 2017. The trio experienced strong ratings increases with total viewers climbing nearly 50% since the show’s relaunch in 2012.
The newsy morning program closed the gap with rivals “Today” and “Good Morning America,” and in February 2016, it reeled in the program’s strongest ratings in 22 years averaging nearly 4 million viewers.
But the ratings began to slide after Rose was fired due to sexual harassment allegations in 2017. Two years later, O’Donnell left the morning program for the evening news.
Since then, the show has experienced steady declines and in recent months has seen its ratings hit just 1.8 million total viewers. Sources have pointed to the show’s “woke” programming — which has been more geared to coastal audiences than middle America — among other things.
In January, King and Burleson’s co-host Tony Dokoupil was promoted to anchor of “CBS Evening News,” adding more uncertainty to the show.
