CBS in Negotiations for Clinton Talk Show

CBS executives are negotiating to bring former President Clinton to television as an afternoon talk show host as early as next year, sources involved in the talks said Wednesday.

CBS executives consider the negotiations with associates of the former president to be preliminary and say several obstacles remain, including the financing and format of a Clinton program as well as whether Clinton is truly committed to hosting a daily talk show.

Clinton has not attended any meetings with CBS.

The concept of a Clinton talk show sprouted back in May, when he met with seven NBC executives at the Los Angeles offices of Clinton’s prominent producer friends, Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth Thomason. But the NBC talks stalled primarily because the two sides were far apart on the deal’s financial terms.

“The numbers didn’t work,” one NBC executive said.

Two weeks ago, Clinton associates began negotiating with CBS.

On Wednesday, people close to the former president downplayed the interest in a Clinton talk show--without slamming the door on an eventual TV deal.

One of Clinton’s attorneys, Robert Barnett, said in a statement: “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.”

Clinton representatives declined to comment further. CBS executives declined to discuss the matter.

A syndicated Clinton talk show would cost about $50 million a year, according to sources involved in the negotiations. Of that, about $36 million would be spent on production costs, $4 million for start-up costs and about $4 million to $5 million for advertising, leaving a fee of about $5 million for Clinton. Another source with knowledge of the proposed financial structure, however, said Clinton was seeking a fee of $10 million.

A former advisor questioned the former president’s commitment to a daily talk show, saying Clinton is focused on writing a book and planning his presidential library.

“Right now, he’s not comfortable with the idea of being a TV talk show guy,” said the advisor, who has had recent conversations with Clinton. Creating a TV program for a former president is uncharted territory, and Clinton wants to make sure that it strikes the proper tone.

“Bill Clinton meets with everybody, he’s that kind of guy, and if the idea for a television program is good enough, then he would consider it,” the former advisor said. “But it would have to be something that works on all levels.”

James Potter, a professor of communications at UC Santa Barbara, agreed.

“It’s clear why the networks want to do it,” Potter said. “The fascination value is going to be very high. The ratings would be very high, initially. There’s nobody like Clinton.”

However, the professor said that Clinton might become frustrated with the limitations of a daily talk show. A talk show, he said, would not allow Clinton to delve into complicated issues in a detailed or meaningful way.

“He’s interested in solutions and not just discussion,” Potter said. “The problems that he’s interested in do not have simple, sound-bite solutions. Talk by itself doesn’t change much.”