Report: Clinton exploring talk show gig

Former President Clinton wants $50 million to host a talk show, a source told the Los Angeles Times.

NEW YORK -- Bill Clinton has talked with NBC executives about becoming the host of his own daytime TV talk show.

The meeting took place Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to a television industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday.

A Clinton spokeswoman, Julia Payne, confirmed that Clinton met with the executives Wednesday.

"Yesterday's informal meeting was one of many meetings President Clinton has had with many people over the past year," Payne said in a written statement sent to CNN.

She went on to say, "President Clinton did not demand a talk show. He went to listen."

NBC had no comment on the meeting.

The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the discussions, quoted a source as saying Clinton was asking for a fee of $50 million a year.

It cited unidentified industry sources as saying he was not seeking a political talk show because of potential conflicts of interest with his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It would remain to be seen whether he would dive into more traditional daytime fare like celebrity interviews, "boot camps" for troubled teens or beauty makeovers.

Oprah Winfrey, the current queen of daytime talk, recently signed a contract extension but said she would quit her show in 2006. The show reportedly generates $300 million in revenue each year, and she's paid more than $125 million a year to be host.

Daytime talk show ratings are generally down this year and two prominent hosts, Rosie O'Donnell and Sally Jessy Rafael, are ending their shows.

Winfrey and, to a lesser extent, O'Donnell, have parlayed their talk show careers into multimedia empires, including their own magazines.

There was a broadcast report last week that CBS or Clinton had expressed interest in the soon-to-be-vacant job of host of that network's morning news show, "The Early Show."

"There is not one ounce of truth to that," said CBS spokeswoman Sandra Genelius.