As Page Six first reported, radio power player Charlamagne Tha God has renewed his deal with iHeartRadio after much speculation that he’d move on to a new home.
But we’re told that he was at the center of a hot bidding war with rival radio stations and TV companies before he decided to reup his contract to co-host the network’s buzzy morning show the “Breakfast Club.”
“Every major media… outlet was interested in speaking and meeting with Charlamagne in the hopes of luring him away from iHeart,” said an insider. But they said the network’s execs came up with a sweet deal because “they wanted to continue the success that they have experienced for the past 10 years. He is one of the most sought-out talents in the world of media.”
We’re told it was one of the biggest media deals in Black radio history.
The show, which he co-hosts with Angela Yee and DJ Envy, celebrates its tenth anniversary this month.
“A lot of money was brought to the table [by competitors] but Charlamagne chose to remain home,” said a source.
When we asked Charlagmagne if the negotiation with iHeartRadio execs had been a drawn-out process, he told us, “Nobody really understands my value or knows my value as much as [iHeartRadio execs] do. They have seen all the analytics; they have seen all the numbers. Nobody out there would quite understand what I bring to the table. So it wasn’t a fight.”
An insider also told us that his relationship with iHeartRadio CEO Bob Pittman helped convince him to stay. “He feels he was empowered and supported by Bob,” they said.
On Monday we reported that he signed a new five-year deal which will see him continue to front the “Breakfast Club” and “Weekends with The Breakfast Club,” plus he’ll get a new quarterly one-on-one interview show. He’ll also have a new role as an executive at the network.
Meanwhile, he’s also working on his “Black Effect Podcast Network,” where the source says “he wants to empower Black voices that go unheard, especially when it comes to women.”