Nine’s Karl Stefanovic reportedly landed $6-million multi-year deal

KARL Stefanovic will reportedly take home $6 million in three years, remarkably more than his Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson. But is it a good use of Nine’s dollars?

Karl Stefanovic on the set of the new Chanel 9 Panel show, the Verdict. Picture: John Appleyard

KARL Stefanovic is set to take home more than twice what his Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson will earn in 2016, according to reports.

Stefanovic is set to reject an offer from Seven and renew his longstanding contract with Nine, according to the Herald Sun, having landed a $6-million multi-year deal.

It is understood he will earn $2 million a year for three years — effectively almost doubling his salary.

Media analyst Steve Allen said Stefanovic’s reported new wage was “kind of outrageous”.

“If this is true, I’m just gobsmacked,” Mr Allen of Fusion Strategy told news.com.au. “Not just the salary difference, but the quantum of what he [Karl] has managed to get.

“All you can say is, congratulations to his manager and to him for manipulating the situation. To extract that amount from Nine Entertainment when they’re under the pump on ratings, they’re under the pump on revenue because of ratings and because of the marketplace. And yet, they can negotiate an incredible increase in what he’s previously been on.”

For months there has been speculation that Seven wanted to lure the star of its rival network across to host a revamped Today Tonight, as well as Seven’s coverage of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

It is the second time Seven has tried to snag the Gold Logie winner. Its last attempt was in 2008.

The 41-year-old will reportedly continue his transition into prime time on Nine with his new panel show The Verdict being commissioned for another series in 2016.

Industry sources have said that Stefanovic’s multi-year deal would place him at the top of the Aussie TV heap.

Seven breakfast rival David Koch reportedly earns $1 million per year, A Current Affair’s Tracy Grimshaw is rumoured to be earning about $700,000 per year.

In 2012, Stefanovic negotiated a $1.3 million deal with Nine, which more than doubled his $500,000 salary in his 2009 contract. Meanwhile, Wilkinson was reported to be earning $750,000 in 2012.

The three-year contracts for both anchors, who have shared the Today show panel for eight years, expired this year and were up for renegotiation. It’s not known what Wilkinson’s new contract looks like.

Mr Allen described negotiations between networks and managers as “a game of poker”.

He said the salaries of Australian TV talent had gone “past the end point”, partly as a result of all three free-to-air networks being publicly listed, but anticipated they would be earning even bigger bucks in the future.

Channel 9 talent Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Richard Wilkins and Tim McMillan.

Mr Allen explained that Seven, like all networks when poaching, would have tried to make it as painful as possible for Nine when offering Stefanovic a gig.

“With personality contract rights like this, the spoiler station — the one that’s supposedly doing the dance — is going to make it very painful for the incumbent to retain the talent.

“It sucks up more of their hard-to-get revenue and leaves less flexibility elsewhere.”

Mr Allen also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Seven came after Wilkinson in the near future. “It’s not beyond the mass nations of television for the real target from Seven being Lisa Wilkinson, because now she’ll be upset and they don’t have the same flexibility as they had before this came out. So there are incredible games played in this space,” he said.

This time last year, Sunrise frequently beat Today by more than 100,000 viewers, but Today’s ratings have improved in 2015, narrowing the gap and regularly beating Sunrise in capital cities.

Even so, Mr Allen described Nine’s investment in Stefanovic as “not the best investment of dollars”.

“Seven, like Ten, is trying to keep its house in order. They’re trying to serve their owners ... and not let costs get out of hand and they’re taking a realistic view of the ratings potential and the revenue potential for their network and they’re saying we’ve got to keep costs under control,” he said.

“This decision that Nine has made ... one would have to say does not appear to be very prudent, and does not appear to be the best investment of dollars.”

Karl Stefanovic’s weekly panel show, the Verdict, has been commissioned for another year.