As a certain person on MediaSpy would say, It wouldnāt surprise me ā¦ if Karl Stefanovic is moved on to another role next year. A fresh team on Today would be good, and Karl could do what he is excellent at - anchoring A Current Affair.
Nine & Ten have a fairly good working relationship. They both share many personalities e.g. Jessica Marais, Julia Morris etc. Iām sure it wasnāt a major issue at the time when Lisa appeared on The Project.
Though, I bet Nine are kicking themselves they didnāt put the pieces together until now.
With permission. Sheās done quite a few appearances on Ten and ABC this year and with these negotiations we now know why they were loosening the leash.
I daresay they didnāt see Ten as a threat and to be fair they probably werenāt until CBS came along.
When Wilkinson appeared on The Project in December 2016 it was to talk about the demise of Dolly magazine. There was no secret preplanning about that appearance. She was only on as she had been the editor of Dolly which at the time was owned by the Packers who also owned Nine.
I think the team at Sunrise will have reason to be very worried about this. Sevenās deplorable treatment of āAustraliaās sweetheartā is well remembered by her loyal fans who have seen her force fed too many shit sandwiches in recent years. Melissa Doyle may not have had a decent offer to go elsewhere in the past but that may have just changed. Letās face it, Armytage, who only got the job because of her BFF relationship with the EP, has never resonated with viewers in the same way Doyle did. What better way to get back at those that shafted you than by jumping ship to the opposition?
Credit to Doyle for swallowing her pride and being professional. Not only has she risen above the newsroom politics, she has earned greater respect and credibility for the job she has done on Sunday Night. That role wouldnāt be conducive to a stable family life. Her children are going through those difficult teenage years and Iād guess sheād prefer to be close to home as much as possible instead of jet setting around the world on assignment.
Melissa Doyle managed to do the impossible and make Kochie palatable at breakfast. Imagine what she could do for Stefanovic. There has been a mass exodus of long term Seven employees bailing out in recent times. Thereās a reason for that. I think Mel just found her exit strategy.
news.com.au has a couple of photos of Stefanovic looking a bit bewildered on Monday night, but itās probably more that a camera is in his face than to do with Wilkinson.
At 7:20 in the video below Lisa Wilkinson was asked by Charlie Pickering about the gender pay gap at Channel 9. Lisaās answer was that Karl and her didnāt know what each others salaries are, if thatās true how can she ask for pay parity if she doesnāt know what Karl is getting.
Deborah Knight should be the main runner for the Co-Hosting position. Not Sylvia Jeffreys! I do agree with some others post Georgie Gardner would be fantastic too if that means stepping down from 6pm News. Deb really deserves this sheās worked the hard yards for years and this is her time! She gets on great with the team and never any awkward banter!
On the contrary. In an interview recently in TV Week she said the show have her more time with her family than Sunrise did. She also mentioned a recent trip to London and her husband is there for them but her kids were old enough to look after themselves now, to not really notice she was gone.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Today hosts were on equal pay (as opposed to Koch being paid significantly more than whoever the co-host was at that stage). Somewhere along the line Nine and / or Stefanovic must have decided he was āworthā more. Today has gradually become more Stefanovic-centric - itās like the early years of the show, where Liebman would do all the āseriousā interviews and the female host would be left with the fluffier stuff. Stefanovic seems to have taken over and Todayās become more and more unwatchable as a result - IMO, at least.
Occasional fluff pieces for 60 Minutes and his prime time efforts donāt mean Stefanovic is worth more money. Wilkinson brought stability to Today and allowing her to leave in favour of keeping Stefanovic happy is a mistake. Simple as that.
Good grief, I hope not. Theyād be better off taking Today off the air than installing her as co-host. Sheād be a terrible choice.
Georgie Gardner is originally from Perth. She doesnāt make a big deal of it (unlike Stefanovic making references to his precious Queensland every few minutes). Perhaps sheās outgrown such childish state-based parochialism.