Karl and Sarah’s enormous pay gap exposed in Aussie TV Rich List

Today host Karl Stefanovic earns an eye-watering amount more than his co-host Sarah Abo, according to an in-depth report released today.

Today host Karl Stefanovic earns an eye-watering $2 million more per year than co-host Sarah Abo, according to an in-depth report released today.

The Australian’s inaugural TV Rich List collates the 35 highest salaries among TV stars on Australia’s three commercial networks, Channel 7, Channel 9 and Network 10.

The list runs from Karl in the top spot with an annual salary of $2.8 million, to stablemate and 60 Minutes reporter Amelia Adams at 35 with $300,000.

And Nine dominates the list with six out of the 10 highest-paid stars, including the all-male top three.

Longtime The Block host Scott Cam is not too far behind Stefanovic with an annual salary of $2.4 million, with Lego Masters host Hamish Blake on $2 million.

There’s a gulf between Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo’s annual pay packets.

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The Morning Show host Larry Emdur is Seven’s highest-paid star but has to settle for fourth place on the list with his $1.6 million annual salary. His Seven colleague Natalie Barr rounds out the top five, as the highest-paid woman on the list with an annual salary of $1.3 million.

Stefanovic’s co-host Sarah Abo sits at number 11 on the Rich List, with an annual salary of $800,00 – a whopping $2 million behind her co-host.

Scott Cam comes in at number two …. Picture: Channel 9

...and Hamish Blake rounds out the top three.

Of course, Stefanovic has been co-host of Today for almost two decades now, whereas Abo only joined him in 2023.

But Stefanovic’s pay disparity with his succession of female co-hosts has long been a point of conjecture – it was enough to lead his most famous on-air partner, Lisa Wilkinson, to leave the network in 2017, frustrated over the wide pay gap between them.

The full 35-name list is dominated by personalities from Nine and Seven, with presenters on Ten making just three appearances (Waleed Aly is the network’s highest-paid star, on $700,000).

Check out the full Rich List, assembled after meetings with “senior executives with intimate knowledge of the country’s highest-profile – and highest-paid – free-to-air network personalities,” at The Australian.

Originally published as Karl and Sarah’s enormous pay gap exposed in Aussie TV Rich List