Lisa Wilkinson quits Today after contract negotiations break down, joins Ten’s The Project
Lisa Wilkinson has announced she will depart Nine’s breakfast program the Today Show after she could not reach an agreement with the broadcaster.
Wilkinson has co-hosted the Today show for a decade
Wilkinson will not be returning to the show – with Monday morning’s episode being her last – and Nine has announced it will “be going in another direction”.
Within an hour of Wilkinson posting the news on Twitter, Ten announced she was joining The Project in a senior editorial and hosting role.
In recent weeks and months media reports have focused on the alleged pay gap between Wilkinson and her co-host Karl Stefanovic.
In a statement from Nine the network said contract negotiations had not progressed.
I have some news. I’m sad to say that today was my last day on @the today show. The following statement is from Channel Nine… pic.twitter.com/B3IVDAfkSm
— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) October 16, 2017
“Nine today confirmed we have been unable to meet the expectations of Lisa Wilkinson and her manager on a contract renewal for a further period. We express our gratitude to Lisa for her 10 years with the Today Show and are disappointed we find ourselves in this position. Nine will be going in another direction and will be considering our options in the coming weeks and months,” the statement said.
Nine CEO Hugh Marks thanked Wilkinson for dedicating a decade to the program.
“Today Show is one of the biggest roles there is in television and requires an enormous commitment from its hosts. The partnership between Lisa and Karl has taken the show to the success it is today and we thank Lisa for everything she has done for the show and for Nine over the past 10 years. We all wish her well for the future,” said Marks.
Wilkinson’s new role at Ten will begin in January 2018 and will involve her working alongside Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Peter Helliar on weekday editions of The Project, as well as hosting The Sunday Project.
Ten said further announcements about Wilkinson’s role at the broadcaster will come over the next few months.
Wilkinson will be joining Ten’s nightly one-hour news and current affair offering, The Project
Ten chief content officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: “Lisa Wilkinson is one of the most respected journalists and television presenters in Australia and we are thrilled that she has agreed to join Network Ten’s fantastic stable of on-air talent.
“In a career that has spanned magazines, radio, television and digital media, Lisa has established her credentials as a leading figure in the Australian media industry. She has a great connection to the Australian public and a reputation that is second to none. We are proud that she has agreed to join the acclaimed team at The Project and The Sunday Project.”
Wilkinson paid tribute to her co-hosts on Nine and the Today Show audience in her farewell statement.
It is not yet clear who will fill in for Lisa this week
“I want to thank Channel Nine for the privilege of co-hosting the Today Show for the last ten years. I would particularly like to acknowledge my colleagues Karl, Sylvia, Georgie, Tim, Richard, Stevie and Natalia, as well as all the hard-working producers and the entire team behind the cameras – every one of them has contributed to the incredible success of the show. Most particularly though I want to thank the Today Show audience who have been so supportive and incredibly loyal to me over the last decade. I can never thank you enough and I look forward to seeing you soon.”
Back in May, Wilkinson appeared on ABC’s The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and discussed the alleged pay gap between her and Stefanovic.
“I have no idea what Karl’s on, just as he has no idea what I’m on,” she told Pickering.
“I can put my hand on my heart and say I have no idea what Karl is paid, and he has no idea what I’m paid.
“Besides, I do it out of love, anyway.”
Wilkinson also recently celebrated 10 years with the Today Show.
What a ten years it has been, @Lisa_Wilkinson! Thank you for all the memories. #9Today pic.twitter.com/1NeP5OuTeR
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) 25 May 2017
Nine has not yet announced who will replace Wilkinson, or indeed who will front the program tomorrow with Stefanovic.
17 October update: This morning’s show was hosted by Stefanovic and Deborah Knight, with Sylvia Jeffreys reading the news.
Stefanovic told viewers: ‘For ten years she handled those brutal hours with grace, beauty, intelligence and a wicked sense of humour. For whatever reason she won’t be doing that any more and it was a surprise to us all.”
Next in the pecking order came Jeffreys who was giving almost as much airtime as Stefanovic for her tribute, saying: “It has been a tremendous privilege to share a part of Lisa’s Today show chapter. Seeing is believing for young girls and for young women and what they see in Lisa is a strong, influential, fun and compassionate woman at the very top of her game.”
I am sure that Today will cope with the loss of Lisa. Just like 2DayFM managed with the loss of Kyle or 2UE continued to thrive without Alan.
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I have my fingers and toes crossed that Chris Bath will be signed on to host Today Show – such a stellar presenter and journalist. Apart from Georgie Gardener – I can’t think of anyone else the viewers will accept.
Keen to know if Ch9’s statement that they are “unable to meet the expectations of Lisa Wilkinson” is short for unable to match the salary of the male presenter who sits next to her. If that’s the case then that’s appalling.
Good on her for sticking to her guns and demanding equal pay. I’m guessing Nine tried to call her bluff and were left empty handed. Now they will feel the wrath of angry mothers nation wide!
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I am such a big fan of Lisa and Today. Chemistry between hosts is everything. The perfect balance between Lisa and Karl brought out the best in the show.
I hope Nine don’t underestimate the impact of loss. Lisa is a one in a million talent.
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My girls 12 and 8 watched and loved Lisa for years and loved her. We have been discussing pay disparity at home for many months now and my girls are delighted that she maybe leaving because Karl is paid more.
Good on Lisa – today my girls look up to you (and so do I)….we will now watch 10.
XX
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Those outside of the TV industry don’t grasp the fact that Wilkinson doesn’t do the same job nor have the same obligations as her co-host, who also has news department and 60 Minutes in his JD. This isn’t about pay equality, and a skilful spinmeister like Wilkinson (anyone else notice the second marriage blah a week or two ago?) will try to play out the victim story for all it’s worth. It demeans other women who genuinely are being discriminated against in remuneration. The only funny part is that apparently she’s lining up to work at Ten. I’d like to see her try and cash that cheque 😉
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So glad to hear these millionaires are finally getting more money!
When you’ve got middle-class people cheering the pay rise of someone who wouldn’t give you the time of day you’ve done something right.
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If Nine are looking for cred they’d make a play for Emma Alberici. Isn’t she free right now?
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Equal pay, equal pay, equal pay…. Yes, they are doing the same job on the Today show, but was Lisa REALLY paid less because she is a women, or was it simply because Karl is viewed to be more important, potentially even better, than Lisa. It must still be possible to have the same job, but unequal pay, if one person is better (whatever the definition of better is in this case). If more viewers would be estimated to leave the couch if Karl left, then why should he not be paid more? The same would have applied for Lisa and I am sure that Nine, commercially astute as they are, would have offered her a better deal than Karl’s if that was the case. Absurd. And whoever replaces Lisa will do the same job and the same hours as Karl, so should they have the same pay too?
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This is a good opening for someone like Kate Fisher.
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If the stories, and there’s plenty of them, are true – Nine deserves egg on its face for losing their female lead for refusing to cough up the money.
Again, assuming the stories are true – paying Lisa Wilkinson 50% of what Karl Stefanovic is paid is seemingly ridiculous, given her 10 years on-air experience, good public image and equal input on the show. So, it becomes about the market rate for her talent as it did with Karl? Clearly, Ten and no doubt others saw her worth to be much, much more than nine.
So, it becomes about gender? Hard not to see it that way.
I’ve never understood, nor ever will understand, the notion that you can earn less money than your professional equal, based on gender or any other demographical attribute.
Ridiculous.
Good for you, Lisa.
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Depends on what sources you believe. According to the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/oct/17/lisa-wilkinson-leaves-nine-and-joins-ten-after-pay-battle):
“Sources said Wilkinson was offered $1.8m for the breakfast show gig next year but was asking for $2m – closer to what is paid to her co-host, Karl Stefanovic, who is said to be on a $6m three-year-deal.”
…
“Nine sources said Stefanovic was paid more than Wilkinson because co-hosting Today is not his only job. He has his own successful primetime show This Time Next Year, plus regular 60 Minutes assignments as well as live anchoring rolling news coverage of floods and other major news events.”
^ if the above is true, that’s pretty close to parity, given the extra “roles” for Karl…
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With respect to the pay gap discussion more broadly, Lisa’s deal with 9 was worth less than Karl’s because Karl has a network deal that includes work on other shows, where Lisa did not.
Such is my understanding, anyway.
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She was paid less because Karl’s role included News and ACA. They are different jobs, with different levels of responsibility. Hence, different pay.
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Nick B – you use the departure of Alan Jones to 2GB from 2UE and K and J to KRIS from 2day and life went on. Suggest you look at radio ratings 2UE has never recovered and nor has 2day with multilple changes in breakfast lineups.
Lisa is the star of the show, sure focus groups would confirm that asking real viewers. As a shareholder of 10 who has done his rear end in my little world, hope Lisa got paid appropriately for the role on the Project but be some pissed off shareholders if she got paid what is reported not substantiated but well past 1m, well past and the company is in administration. Charming!!!
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No sugar coating – it’s called irony. Well – my comment was an attempt at it anyway.
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The people that don’t get irony are the same ones that don’t understand Karl does more for the network than Lisa did, therefore commands a higher salary.
For what it’s worth, Lisa absolutely should have been paid exactly the same Karl for the Today Show gig, even though all companies pay people different salaries for the same job based on their skills, appeal, experience, ability to deliver or negotiate. Look at the guy or girl next to you in your agency of marketing department doing the same role and ask yourself if you’re both getting paid exactly the same salary. I doubt it.
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There are more comments from channel 9 people than you can poke a stick a,t or they are incredibly engaged in the inner sanctum of TV.
What High Marks has said today publicly and they are the facts coming from a CEO with a legal background then 9 did try and keep Lisa but the digital rights comments are fair enough. You want 2M then not unreasonable that your primary employer gets 1st dibs at it.
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Be mindful of what info you’re giving your girls at home. Karl’s job was different to Lisa’s and includes working on additional shows for the network, which is why he was paid more than her.
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