CHENNELED RAGE: Fans on Twitter blasted WNBC’s decision not to retain Sue Simmons, longtime co-anchor with Chuck Scarborough. (
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There were 5 million reasons to oust Sue Simmons — and they were all in her paycheck.
WNBC/Channel 4 refused to renew the nightly news anchor’s contract because she makes a whopping $5 million annual salary — which her bosses feel is absurdly overinflated — and she’s lost interest in her job, top network sources told The Post.
“It is a lot of money, and many people have been under the impression that Sue had been phoning it in for a while,” a station source revealed.
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The salty Simmons, 68, who anchored WNBC’s nightly local news for 32 years, has become so casual at delivering her lines that she famously dropped an F-bomb during a live 2008 telecast. She apologized on-air a half-hour later.
She’s also famous for drinking alcohol between telecasts, former co-workers told The Post.
In January, the Emmy Award winner was booted from the 5 p.m. news — co-anchor Chuck Scarborough remains in the time slot — and she now appears only on the 11 p.m. telecast.
Her antics and massive paycheck aggravated NBC’s cost-cutting parent company Comcast.
Her direct managers also complained to higher-ups that if they cut her, they could save other jobs.
As a result, Simmons’ contract will not be renewed when it expires in June, The Post’s Cindy Adams first reported yesterday.
Sources said another reason brass decided to cut her was that she refused to make feel-good appearances to promote the station.
Scarborough, 68 — who is paid almost the same salary — has “always been far more willing to contribute outside the broadcast,” a source said.
He makes frequent appearances at charity events and corporate functions — which Simmons consistently passes on.
Scarborough also preps for the night’s news while Simmons appears to wing it.
“She had this attitude like, ‘I’ve worked hard for all these years to get to this point, and I’ve done enough,’ ” said another top station source.
Her exit has been in the works for years, sources said, and previous station managers tried to convince her to take a buyout in 2008, but she declined.
When she leaves NBC in June, she will sign off as the highest-paid local-news anchorwoman in the nation.
Simmons, who won four Emmys while at NBC, declined to comment yesterday.
NBC officials insisted yesterday that there’s no bad blood between Simmons and the station. “We have tremendous respect and admiration for Sue Simmons. For decades, Sue has been a critical part of New York’s longest-tenured anchor team in the city and has more than earned her iconic status,” the station said in a statement.
The abrupt end to Simmons’ long run at Channel 4 took fans by surprise yesterday — and many turned to social networks to rally behind the anchor and demand she be allowed to keep her job.
A Facebook page called “Save Sue Simmons” popped up, and the hashtag #SaveSueSimmons was on Twitter. On both sites, hundreds of fans said letting go of Simmons was a mistake.
“Why on earth would any network want to lose an incredible talent like Sue Simmons?!” wrote fan Joe Corcione on Facebook.
Support for Simmons was especially strong from others in the media industry.
“This is bad news,” tweeted ABC News anchor Chris Cuomo.
“i’m with that… #SaveSueSimmons,” Tweeted Randall Lane, the editor of Forbes magazine.