60 Minutes key to Karl Stefanovic’s redemption, says Leckie

Forme­r Nine media bosses say Karl Stef­anovic’s image can still be saved, but he must first serve a period of rehabilitation.

Karl Stefanovic with wife Jasmine Yarbrough in Aspen, Colorado, yesterday (AEDT) after news of his axing from Today. Picture: Nemo / Backgrid

Three of Nine’s forme­r media bosses say Karl Stef­anovic’s image can still be saved, but he must first serve a period of rehabilitation at the network’s flagship current affairs show, 60 Minutes, before he can return to his former status as network star.

Legendary former Nine chief executive David Leckie and two of the network’s former longstanding news and current affairs chiefs, Peter Meakin and John Westacott, all believe that Stefanovic, unceremoniously dumped from the Today show on Wednesday, has damaged his brand. However, they say re-establishing himself as a “great journalist” could save him.

True to his reputation, Mr Leckie was blunt in his assessment of Stefanovic’s recent travails, including the fallout from his much-publicised Mexican wedding to shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough.

“That wedding was a joke,” he told The Australian. “He stuffed up with the wedding. If I was (Nine chief executive) Hugh Marks, I would have done the same (in ­cutting him from Today).”

But Mr Leckie also thinks that if anything can save Stefanovic’s caree­r at Nine, it is 60 Minutes.

Stefanovic’s Today stand-in Brenton Ragless yesterday. Picture: Diimex

“I don’t think he’s beyond rehabilitat­ion, but it’s a close thing,” he said. “It depends on him. 60 Minutes is screaming out for a Jana Wendt or a Ray Martin, becau­se it’s struggling right now. And Karl could be that figure.”

Mr Leckie, who also ran Seven for many years, said Stefanovic’s rehabilitation in the eyes of the public was critical, if he was to have any hope of returning to his forme­r status.

“He’s ruined his brand,” he said. “I don’t think he has any awareness about what he’s done. At the moment, he’s dead meat.”

When Mr Leckie ran Seven, he offered Stefanovic an evening show gig. “Australian TV, including me, was for years looking for the next Graham Kennedy, then the next Don Lane. That’s what I was talking to Karl about doing.”

However, Mr Leckie said Stefano­vic might have “ruined” the prospect of an evening show at Nine, “unless he redeems himself as a reporter. But he’s got to ­redeem himself.”

Mr Meakin, now head of news and current affairs at Ten, said that Stefano­vic could still be promin­ent at Nine for years to come, via the 60 Minutes route.

“I’d get him to do some stuff that’s incredibly responsible and serious for 60 Minutes,” he said. “But I think anyone who writes off Karl Stefanovic would be making a mistake. ”

Mr Meakin believes leaving Today may be just what Stefanovic needs. “He’s been bribed to stay on Today for years,” he said. “In a way, it’ll be a relief for him to leave it. It will be a reset for him. It’s a setback, but not the end of his career by any means. He’s a very likeable larrikin.”

Mr Westacott said Stefanovic would make “an excellent 60 Minute­s reporter” and urged him to take a leaf out of the book of 60 Minutes veteran Liz Hayes.

“Karl’s a good TV talent, and he’s an experienced, competent reporter. Liz was a news reporter, spent time on Today, which taught her some skills, then she went back on the road. Now she’s one of the country’s best reporters. It’s time for Karl to do the same.”