In a move that came as a surprise to industry observers and to the bosses at Nine, TODAY host KARL STEFANOVIC recently launched legal action against News Corp. Now the company has issued an apology.
While the apology might have been buried on page 90, bosses at Nine are hoping it will bring to an end what they see as a relentless campaign against the born again breakfast star.
The apology, also available online, says;
“On 10 November 2019, The Sunday Telegraph published two articles about Nine’s Today Show host Karl Stefanovic.
The articles included the claim that Nine intended to penalise Mr Stefanovic $1 million for breaching the standards expected of him. We accept that this figure is incorrect.
Mr Stefanovic still has a year to run on his current contract with Nine and its terms remain unaltered.
We apologise to Mr Stefanovic for any hurt and embarrassment caused by the publication of these articles.
Mr Stefanovic has agreed to discontinue his defamation proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia on terms confidential between the parties.”
Stefanovic’s anger had been building up for some time but the final straw was an article written by Annette Sharp titled Karl’s resurrection to cost $1m bonus.
The story, which has now been removed, claimed;
REBIRTHED television host Karl Stefanovic is taking as much as a $1 million pay cut to return to his old job at Today.
Nine network insiders say the recalled breakfast anchor will forfeit one third of his $3 million package for one last ride in television’s toughest rodeo.
Stefanovic’s last contract, negotiated in December 2015 with Nine’s then new CEO Hugh Marks, included a $1 million dollar “image bonus” part of — or all of which — could be withheld by bosses should Stefanovic fail to achieve standards expected of him, well-placed sources claim.
Given the breakfast show anchor was sacked last year from the program he was contracted to host for five years, it’s now believed his bosses used this clause to slash his lucrative contract.
Sources yesterday denied Stefanovic had been offered a new or extended contract and maintained he remained on contract only until the end of 2020.
At issue was the claim Stefanovic had been penalised $1 million as part of a return to the Today Show. Sources tell TV Blackbox it was felt the story portrayed him as doing something wrong, leading to his sacking from the breakfast show in December 2017. Stefanovic was caught off guard by the sacking and believes he did nothing wrong to deserve such treatment.
In fact, it is Stefanovic’s belief the culmination of negative headlines around his new marriage contributed to Nine’s decision to remove him (and many others) from the show.
The article gave Stefanovic the ammunition he needed to begin legal proceedings as he knew he had the documents that could prove the story wrong.
Today’s apology might not end the alleged negative campaign from News Corp, but it might just make them think twice going forward — and that’s exactly what Karl wants. He knows they print stories about him because people click on them and it ultimately helps them sell subscriptions, but his life has been under the microscope for a long time now and happy stories don’t sell newspapers, so reporters are often looking for negative headlines.
Karl has the money and resources to take them on… and now they know he’s willing to do it.
Soon after news broke about Stefanovic taking legal action against News Corp The Australian revealed Nine CEO Hugh Marks did not know of Stefanovic’s plans, telling the paper;
“I was unaware that was the step he was taking,’’
Despite some at Nine being angry about the legal action, the network is now hoping the negative stories will stop. Writer Annette Sharp has had Stefanovic in her sights for some time with negative statements towards him in her opinion pieces;
“Stefanovic endures, having once again whispered into the ear of a CEO and promised without proof of evidence something he is yet to deliver to Nine, a sustained ratings win.
The man persuaded of Stefanovic’s comeback potential was Nine chief executive Hugh Marks, the same man who first signed Stefanovic to the ludicrous $3 million contract he’s been on for the past four years — the worst years in Today’s 38-year history for market share thanks to the domination of Seven and an ascendant ABC.” – The Sunday Telegraph November 10, 2019
Comments made on Twitter by Sharp also caught Stefanovic’s attention.
This Karl Stefanovic restoration really peeves me.
Why are men allowed to fail in our society and women aren’t?— Annette Sharp (@InSharpRelief) November 10, 2019
It’s not the first time News Corp has been held to account by Nine. In February 2019 the paper made a page 3 apology to then host Georgie Gardner after falsely claiming focus groups had labelled her an ‘Ice Queen’.
Insiders at Nine tell TV Blackbox they have noticed an aggressive approach from News Corp publications ever since the network merged with Fairfax and became owners of rival papers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Those insiders say reporters have been instructed only to write negative stories about the network and not to highlight any of its programs in TV Guides.
The team at TV Blackbox has certainly noticed a lack of reporting on Nine winning the ratings year and their programming announcements for 2020.
In response to the apology issued to Stefanovic, a spokesperson tells us;
“Nine acknowledges and welcomes the apology.”
Co-Creator and Editor of the TV Blackbox website, Robert McKnight is highly regarded Australian Television Producer, he has worked at SEVEN, NINE and TEN, and is most well-known for creating and producing STUDIO 10. Currently Rob is the host and producer of the TV Blackbox, McKnight Tonight and Monsters Who Murder podcasts.
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