Nine has this weekend confirmed the signing a new contract with Today presenter Karl Stefanovic.
The new multi-year deal caps off a remarkable return to television for Stefanovic.
Since resuming hosting duties at Today in 2020 and teaming up with Allison Langdon, the presenter has won back many of his fans and appears to be having a lot of fun on-screen.
It’s a sharp turnaround from his personal low point in 2018 when it appeared likely Stefanovic was about to be shown the door from the network.
Confirming the new contract, a spokesperson for Nine told TV Blackbox;
“Today Show numbers continue to move in the right direction. We are very happy with the team of Karl, Ally, Alex, Brooke and Tim, and can confirm we have a longer-term deal in place with Karl beyond 2020.”
The new contract for Karl Stefanovic comes as Today continues to gain positive momentum with viewers.
The breakfast program recorded its second consecutive win this week in the all-important markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Today achieved an average of 188k compared with rival Sunrise on 181k in the east coast cities.
Today also defeated Sunrise this week across all five metro markets based on the key advertiser demographics of viewers aged 25 to 54, and 16 to 39.
Speaking to investors this week, Nine’s CEO, Hugh Marks, commented on the improvement of the program.