What SA’s top TV and radio identities could be earning
They’re the voices that keep you informed and entertained on your morning commute and the nightly news. So how much can SA’s top media stars command for their talent and experience?
Entertainment
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Being a radio or TV presenter is a dream job for many, especially those seeking fame and fortune.
Not that we’re saying these fine folk are motivated by money, but who doesn’t enjoy getting handsomely rewarded for their talent, experience and hard work?
We’ve asked around, and surveyed former members of the industry – both behind and in front of the microphone/camera – to find out what Adelaide’s top TV and radio stars can earn annually.
Of course, salaries are a closely guarded secret in the industry, so the below numbers are merely a guide based on our experience and media contacts.
Actual individual wages and salary agreements may differ.
To make things easier, we’ve broken down the predicted salaries into brackets to illustrate who’s rumoured to be top of the tree and where everyone sits in SA’s media landscape.
RADIO
TIER ONE - KING CROW AND COSI
Estimated salary range: $350,000 up to $500,000 a year
Mark ‘Roo’ Ricciuto – Triple M breakfast
Fifteen years after he retired from footy, former Crow Ricciuto remains one of SA’s top sporting icons. He’s also now a key member of the media, providing expert commentary on Fox Footy and co-hosting Triple M’s long-running early morning show with Chris Dittmar and Laura O’Callaghan.
Starting on the Rush Hour drivetime shift, it’s understood the man known as ‘Roo’ had to be gently coaxed into the breakfast timeslot in 2014. At the time, he was rumoured to be paid more than anyone in the radio market.
Almost eight years on and with some promising radio survey results in the past 12 months, there’s no reason to believe anything has changed.
Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello – SAFM breakfast and South Aussie with Cosi
There are few better known monikers in SA than “Cosi”. An established media star with a huge social media following, the fun-loving Costello has built a powerful media brand promoting the state.
It helped him secure a well-paid spot on the SAFM breakfast show and when you consider his TV travel and lifestyle program, South Aussie with Cosi, was poached by Channel 7 last year, he’s almost certainly at the top of the earning tree.
TIER TWO - THE BIG NAMES
Estimated salary range: $300,000 – $350,000 a year
Ali Clarke – Mix 102.3 breakfast
Clarke left ABC 891 on a high at the end of 2021, with a dominant final survey almost five ratings points clear of second place.
While difficult to guess her earnings at Aunty, the leak of ABC staff salaries in 2013 showed the ABC was paying four South Australian radio broadcasters $120,000 or more a year, with Adelaide’s then top-rating breakfast duo Matthew Abraham ($149,354) and David Bevan ($134,223) reportedly leading the way.
Clarke leveraged the impressive results of her stint at the ABC into what’s understood to be a very lucrative contract with commercial station Mix.
That said, Mix had to pay out two years of Mark “Soda” Soderstrom’s three-year contract when he left, meaning the moula might not be quite as much as she had hoped.
David ‘Penbo’ Penberthy – FIVEaa breakfast
A former Daily Telegraph and Sunday Mail editor, Penbo has vast connections across different mediums and coupled with his authoritative news voice, make him a formidable and valuable addition to FIVEaa’s highly-rated breakfast show.
TIER THREE - VETERANS AND THE RISING STARS
Estimated salary range: $200,000 – $300,000 a year
Rebecca Morse – SAFM breakfast
Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann – SAFM breakfast
Will Goodings – FIVEaa breakfast
Chris Dittmar – Triple M breakfast
This is the biggest group and features the widest array of on-air talent.
Speculation suggests it’s an expensive SAFM breakfast show but Cosi’s co-hosts, former Ten newsreader Morse and national TV funnyman Lehmo, command a high price.
Ben Harvey, Liam Stapleton – Nova 919 breakfast
Young duo Harvey and Stapleton were lured across to Nova from their national triple j role and as such, earn a significant salary, while Goodings and Dittmar provide an important voice on their respective morning programs.
Kane Cornes – SEN SA breakfast
Since hanging up his footy boots, Cornes has quickly built a powerful media brand, just like his father. The name recognition – plus his sometimes polarising opinions – are vital to the new sport station’s quest to gain a foothold in Adelaide.
TIER FOUR - ABC AND THE REST
Estimated salary range: $90,000 – $110,000 a year
Stacey Lee – ABC breakfast
Nikolai Beilharz – ABC breakfast
Back in 2013, the annual salaries of high-profile ABC journalists and managers were accidentally leaked by an MP staffer, revealing some interesting data.
At the time, it showed Adelaide’s top-rating breakfast duo, 891’s Matthew Abraham ($149,354) and David Bevan ($134,223), were the national broadcaster’s top on-air earners in SA.
New pairing Lee and Beilharz have made a positive start as they succeed Clarke and their compensation will surely rise accordingly, but it’s always likely to be significantly less than their commercial counterparts.
TELEVISION
TIER ONE - SA’s DOYEN OF NEWS
Estimated salary range: $400,000 – $500,000 a year
Jane Doyle – Channel 7 newsreader
In 2019, this beloved presenter toasted 30 years of reading the news on Adelaide TV – and she’s still going strong.
There's no more trusted name in the local industry, and given her standing as an SA news icon, it’s no surprise she has a pay packet worthy of her experience.
TIER TWO – The trusted newsreaders
Estimated salary range: $250,000 – $300,000 a year
Rosanna Mangiarelli – Seven newsreader
There’s been some big changes to Seven Adelaide’s presenting team in recent years, with the departures of the popular Graeme Goodings and Jess Adamson.
But the highly-respected Mangiarelli, who previously hosted the station’s long-running news and current affairs program, Today Tonight, remains a staple of the network’s SA bulletin and is Doyle’s natural successor.
Brenton Ragless, Kate Collins – Nine newsreaders
Over at Nine, Collins and Ragless have been on the newsdesk together for almost a decade and in time, have challenged Seven’s stranglehold on the timeslot in Adelaide.
Collins replaced the legendary Rob Kelvin in 2011, before former CFS volunteer and weather presenter Ragless joined her in 2014.
TV insiders say the affable Ragless – once dubbed the nicest man on TV – tests extremely well with the audience and he was at one point considered the frontrunner to take over from Karl Stefanovic on the national Today morning TV show.
TIER THREE – Sporty types
Estimated salary range: $150,000 – $200,000 a year
Mark Soderstrom – Seven’s weekday sports presenter and SANFL commentator
The hardworking Soderstrom and Rehn are synonymous with sport in Adelaide.
Soderstrom, who quit Mix’s breakfast show at the end of last year, has been the face of Seven’s sports bulletin for many years and is a popular MC around town.
Tom Rehn – Nine’s weekday sports presenter
The same applies for Rehn at Nine, who replaced outgoing weekday sports presenter Warren Tredrea in January.
He’s also a part of the station’s new local travel and lifestyle show, Hello SA, which launched in January to fill the void left by South Aussie with Cosi’s move to Seven.
Will McDonald – Nine’s weekend and afternoon news presenter
Versatile McDonald, who joined Nine Adelaide in 2004, originally stepped up to the news team when veteran Georgina McGuinness departed in 2011.
He’s bravely battled prostate cancer in the last two years and endeared himself to the audience as he continued to work, anchoring the station’s weekend and afternoon’s news bulletins.
TIER FOUR – Forecasting the weather
Estimated salary range: $125,000 to $150,000 a year
Amelia Mulcahy – Seven weather presenter
It’s the five minutes at the end of the news we all wait for with bated breath – and Mulcahy is as trusted as a meteorologist when it comes to her long-range forecasts.
Bright and bubbly, Mulcahy became full-time weather presenter in 2014, and is also the station’s weather, climate and environment reporter.
Jessica Braithwaite – Nine weather presenter
When she’s not belting out a tune, talented singer Braithwaite’s in charge of Nine’s weather, a role she’s held since 2016.
It’s a position she’s more than qualified for, with a certificate in meteorology as well as a double degree in Journalism and International Studies (as does Mulcahy, for the record).
While a weather presenter’s on-air time might be short and sweet, a source, referring to the research required prior to each bulletin and the hours worked, tells us: “They deserve to be paid more for what they do.”
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