Norah O’Donnell is moving to Washington, DC, in weeks — as CBS is splashing out on a shiny new studio for her, Page Six has learned.
O’Donnell is leaving the Big Apple next month and taking her children and the “CBS Evening News” to DC, where she already has a sprawling multimillion-dollar home with her restaurateur husband, Geoff Tracy.
There’s no exact date for the move, as CBS is working on a “state-of-the-art” studio, and sources say it’s still being built, with the electrical work yet to be finished.
The anchor and mom of three took over the highly prized gig from Jeff Glor — who had only been in the seat for a year and a half — in July.
We revealed how the network agreed to move the show to DC amid contract negotiations. She’s believed to have signed a deal worth between $7 million and $8 million. CBS also stumped up $11 million for her former co-star Gayle King to stay on “CBS This Morning.”
O’Donnell’s new executive producer Jay Shaylor — who ran CNN’s “The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer” — is already based at the DC offices.
It’s a gamble, as no nightly news show has ever broadcast solely from DC. But given the political climate — and the fact that CBS faces an uphill battle against NBC’s Lester Holt and ABC’s David Muir in rival time slots, CBS News president Susan Zirinsky decided to give it a go.
And a source said: “It’s perfect timing, with everything that’s going on in the White House, for us to be in DC.”
We’re also told that barring a few open positions, most of O’Donnell’s new production team is in place. While there were fears over jobs in NYC, we’re told there have been no job cuts.
O’Donnell also thinks it will be for the best — after pointing out that Watergate was in DC, not NYC.
Meanwhile, CBS News will not have Ronan Farrow on-air to plug his new book “Catch and Kill.” Farrow will be on ABC’s “GMA” on Friday. A source told us: “As far as I know, Ronan’s not booked on any of our shows.”