Time’s not up for Karl, but it could be for Pete

SLAGGING off your bosses is never the best idea, but it’s even worse when you’ve already been handed countless golden opportunities, writes Colin Vickery.

WILL Karl Stefanovic finally get the sack?

That is what people have been asking in the midst of the fallout from the Uber ride scandal.

The Today co-host, on the phone to his brother Peter, took aim at his new co-star Georgie Gardner labelling her a fence sitter who is “wishy washy and doesn’t have an opinion on anything”.

Karl reportedly also took aim at Nine’s current affairs flagship 60 Minutes as well as Today entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins for not wanting to share his celebrity interviews.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. In one fell swoop, Karl has dumped on his workmates and the show that has given him the greatest prime-time exposure of his career. For want of a better word, it’s nothing short of dumb.

And the timing for Karl couldn’t be worse.

All of this comes after Nine has spent more than a year (and thousands of hours) mopping up countless messes that came in the wake of his breakup with Cassandra Thorburn and new relationship with Jasmine Yarbrough.

The vibe on Monday’s set of Today was truly awkward. (Pic: Today)

When Lisa Wilkinson jumped ship late last year, critics wondered whether it was time for a clean sweep of Today and if Karl, supposedly on around $2 million per year, would be jettisoned as well.

That didn’t happen and right now Nine might be regretting it because for anyone who’s seen them will attest, the Stefanovic-Gardner pairing hasn’t exactly set screens or ratings alight. Yet another controversy is unlikely to help.

Even worse, this morning gave a sign of things to come.

When Gardner called Karl “pathetic” in a segment about sausage dogs, critics immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was taking a pot shot at her co-star. For who knows how long into the future, viewers will now be avidly watching the pair for any sign of tension, reading into the smallest comment or roll of an eye. I can see the “hate each other” headlines running for months to come — true or not.

One thing in Karl’s favour is that he has just finished taping the interviews for the next season of reality show This Time Next Year.

The relationship between Today hosts Georgie Gardner and Karl Stefanovic has been tested by the release of the Uber comments. (Pic: David Caird)

Last year’s first season was a ratings hit. The second season will screen in 2019 — as interviewees who have vowed to make massive change to their life now spend 12 months making good.

Replace Karl now and Nine would have to scrap those interviews and start all over again. The cost would likely be prohibitive.

But there is no doubt that Nine bosses are getting fed up with Karl. They’re tired of the distraction. They are sick of the hours devoted to coddling a star that constantly shoots himself in the foot. But they also rate his talent for fronting hundreds of hours of live television — across a myriad of topics — each year. That is why he gets the big bucks.

Co-hosting Today is harder than it looks. One minute you’re joking and the next you’ve got to front a horrific terror story and smoothly transition between the two.

Karl, for the most part does it with aplomb.

The person I reckon should be worried is Karl’s younger brother and the other person on the phone call, Peter. He is disposable. His criticism of Nine executives and newsroom colleagues, including senior reporter Mark Burrowes, is a potential career killer.

Peter Stefanovic reporting as part of the Today team following the release of the Uber conversation. (Pic: Channel 9)

He chose to vent mere weeks after landing the plum Weekend Today co-hosting role alongside Allison Langdon, after according to reports, Peter felt his career wasn’t progressing as fast as he would like.

Over the years he has been given prized foreign correspondent positions based in Los Angeles and London. He filled in on Today on numerous occasions, and on 60 Minutes when Langdon was on leave. And while I don’t doubt Peter’s news skills, he’s a charisma-free zone when compared to his older brother.

Really, I reckon Peter should have been thanking the Nine bosses for his latest chance instead of turning on them.

As you’d expect, the brothers got on the front foot and apologised to their colleagues after news of the taped conversation leaked, with Nine’s public relations team jumping into action saying that the discussion between Karl and Peter was “schoolboy behaviour — but that’s no excuse” and that “we appreciate their genuine apologies”.

But you have to know that time is running out for Karl if he keeps hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Charm will only get him so far.

Right now Karl and Peter should be grateful of one thing — that it doesn’t seem like Nine CEO Hugh Marks was among the people they bagged out. Now that could have been a killer.