Sarah Palin is being wooed by two news media veterans to join a streaming network, The Post has learned.
Jonathan Klein, who ran CNN’s US operations, and Jeff Gaspin, who was most recently chairman of NBC-Universal Entertainment, have already raised enough money from deep-pocketed backers to start the over-the-top network, and have reached out to a few bold-faced names to host a show to make selling subscriptions easier, sources said.
And is the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate among those the two have approached?
You betcha, sources said.
Palin seemed interested but has not committed, sources added.
While Palin has no major media platform, like a syndicated radio show or newspaper column, to market such a service, the 50-year-old conservative political commentator has a stunning social media presence: Her Facebook page has four million friends [vs. 900,000 for her former running mate, Sen. John McCain] and she has more than a million followers on Twitter. She is a Fox News contributor.
Plus, the thriller from Wasilla proved just last week, referencing her 2008 stump speech about Putin having eyes on invading Ukraine provided her a “told-ya-so” moment, that she could still grab headlines.
Palin is known for being openly critical of the mainstream media and its alleged bias, so a streaming service would give her the perfect platform to speak directly to voters as electioneering moves into high gear before the mid-terms in November.
Palin’s controversial no-holds-barred view of the world is seen as the perfect fit for such a streaming service looking to attract the kind of paying customers that former Fox News host Glenn Beck has via his Web service, The Blaze.
Beck has 300,000 customers paying $9.99 a month to see his chalkboard history lessons and talk shows.
Robert Barnett, Palin’s rep, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
Meanwhile, Klein, 55, has been near silent since his departure from CNN in 2010. One of Klein’s final hires was Piers Morgan for Larry King’s prime time slot. Klein was also CEO of The FeedRoom, a streaming news aggregator that was later sold for millions.
Gaspin, at the same time, has turned down job offers since his exit from NBC-Universal soon after Comcast acquired the company. The 53-year-old native New Yorker was known for building himself a $200,000 gold-hued bathroom at his office, which didn’t sit well with his superiors.
Klein’s and Gaspin’s paths first crossed when Gaspin was at NBC News and Klein at CBS News. The two have said nothing about the new venture but were named in a January press release as programming partners for a new sports-themed digital network from Anthem Media Group, which is backed by Leonard Asper, former CEO of Canada’s Canwest Global.
The executives declined to comment.
The time appears right for streaming media ventures.
The WWE, the NFL, Time Inc. and Dish Network each recently announced such ventures to better reach and exploit an increasingly mobile target audience.