The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 2)

p> FRONTLINE CLINTON br> Now that Bill Clinton 's people have re-stoked rumors of the former president's interest in launching his own TV show, public television is wondering why its favorite president hasn't come knocking on its door. According to a producer working for a show funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, several Clinton appointees to the board are attempting to pull together a pitch to lure Clinton into the PBS family. /p>

"They'd love him to do a show for PBS. The local stations would love it, fundraisers would love it, viewers would love it," says the producer. "It just makes a lot of sense. This is the audience that Clinton loves to pander to, wants to influence. To these folks, it's just a perfect fit."

Some of the initial discussion has involved making Clinton the Bill Moyers of the new millennium. "Moyers has kind of run out of steam," says the producer. "He's not the poster boy for PBS the way he was in the 1980s and 1990s."

Clinton would be invited to front at least one special, multi-part show a year, say, on AIDs, one of his pet projects. These eight- to ten-hour specials anchor the national PBS fundraising drives each year. "Can you imagine the kind of corporate underwriting they'd get for it? The foundation money? It would be like PBS hit the lottery," says the producer.

Along with the annual special, Clinton would also have the ability to host a talk show or appear on air in some regular format as he wished. "He wouldn't have to do it every day, maybe only once a week, and he could shoot multiple shows in a day if he wanted," says a fundraiser for PBS in New York. "I could raise millions for that kind of thing."

One impediment to any deal with a syndicator or network is the amount of time Clinton would have to devote to a daily talk show. But his staffers and network hands haven't been too specific about the format being discussed. Clinton has held initial meetings with CNN and CBS about working with them on a project.

The other hangup is the money. Clinton would be looking for a huge pay day to host anything. "PBS could probably raise enough to offer something in the seven figures, and with corporate or foundation underwriting, Clinton could probably clear something in the $10 million range if he really pushed it," says the New York fundraiser.

"It all depends on the subject and how they marketed it." Financial figures for Bill Moyers specials have never been made public, but it's believed that many of his shows -- with companion books and videos -- have earned him income in the high seven, low eight-figure range.

topics:
Bill Clinton, Television, Books, NATO