(NewsNation) — ABC’s longtime senior national correspondent Terry Moran is doing just fine, thank you very much.
Moran was axed from ABC after a June 8 tweet in which he described top White House aide Stephen Miller as someone “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred.” The tweet was soon deleted, but the damage was done. Moran was immediately suspended and later let go from the network.
But my insiders say he’s doing better than he ever was.
”Terry started his Substack and immediately got 90,000 subscribers,” my insider said. If all were yearly subscribers at $50 a year, Moran immediately scored a $4,500,000 paycheck. Even if people opted for the $5 weekly option, “He’s not hurting — even if everyone only did the $5 weekly … he made $450,000 this week.”
Terry Moran ‘furious’ his contract was up: Insider
Moran was said to be making between $400,000 and $600,000 a year at ABC and was in contract negotiations.
”Terry was furious — his contract was up this month. Usually, a network will start negotiations three months before the contract came up. He was riding high after his stellar interview with President Trump, who won’t speak with George Stephanopoulos or David Muir, and still they dragged their feet and were going to offer him a one-year contract with a flat salary. It was insulting. (The tweet) was kind of a ‘s–t or get off the pot’ move for Terry,” my insider said.
”He is very missed. He was the political workhorse of the network who deeply cared about his work and very good at it. The irony is Terry is a conservative and likely a Republican. He was the conscience of the network and would always weigh in on calls or company emails with ‘we should consider…’ angles that showed the opposite view of whatever was being said. I subscribed just to hear his voice of sanity and know what else to consider,” the source said.
ABC renews George Stephanopoulos’ contract, angers staff: Insider
Also infuriating ABC staffers was Stephanopoulos’ contract getting renewed for eight figures late last year, despite the network settling with the Trump administration over defamation claims.
ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle the defamation lawsuit over Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
And despite Michael Strahan telling ABC and “Good Morning America” execs he was “done” and leaving at the end of his contract this summer — “somehow he’s still there,” another insider said. “GMA is freaking out about moving to the downtown basement studios and really are trying to get him to stay at least a year longer to help with the transition,” the spy said.
Both Strahan and Stephanopoulos are said to be making over $20 million a year (Robin Roberts makes even more), which stings. ”GMA isn’t number one in morning TV anymore — and is losing money…yet these guys still get paid 2008 salaries,” my insider said.
“And talented journalists who make and break news are getting their salaries cut. It’s insanity.”
A rep for ABC News didn’t return emails.
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