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I wake up with a change on Today

Was Karl Stefanovic really serious about being replaced on Today? Now Lisa and Georgi are in on the 'gag.'

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2014-03-29_2356This week there has been much chatter about Karl Stefanovic supposedly set to be replaced at the Today show.

Media reports today now see it extended to Lisa Wilkinson and Georgi Gardner.

What is everybody smoking….?

Things got started when Karl was talking to Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa about a report that Adam Boland had supposedly wanted to replace Melissa Doyle at Sunrise.

“What about all those emails from bosses saying ‘We’re going to replace you’?” he said.

“As if it doesn’t happen everywhere. In my first year at the Today show I had three people come up to me at the car park and say, ‘Mate, I’ve just been offered your job’: Mike Munro, Ray Martin and Ben Fordham. I’m 100% serious.”

The first two names sound entirely plausible, Nine was going through some tough times in 2005. It took several partnerships until Lisa Wilkinson worked in 2007.

But it was his next line that has led to new speculation.

“I know that ‘upstairs’ is actively planning to get rid of me, and I like it. I embrace it. I don’t care — it’s best to go, ‘It’s TV, eventually they will, so I’m just gonna have a great time and sail on into the sunset’,” he said.

Whether his sentiment was genuine or not is debatable. Karl is known for being a card.

Now we have opinions that Lisa Wilkinson might be under the gun, or even Georgi Gardner, because Sunrise is rating better. It’s true that Sunrise has enjoyed a lift since the arrival of Sam Armytage. She is a good performer.

But so are Wilkinson and Gardner. Many Q & A viewers were impressed by Wilkinson during her recent appearance. Gardner is a solid performer. Replace them at your own peril.

Today‘s ratings are sometimes within striking distance of the opposition, and sometimes well behind. It would be very risky executive to presume change equates to improvement.

A Nine spokeswoman denied anyone would be leaving the show, telling News Corp: “Apart from Ben (Fordham), who has already announced his next move at Nine, we are not discussing, planning, contemplating any changes to our line-up at all.”

Seems to me Karl’s gag probably backfired with the amount of media chatter it has ignited.

13 Responses

  1. ” Sam Armytage, she is a good performer”

    The above was the ‘beat up’ giveaway for me.
    Honestly anybody who really listens to her, and I mean ‘ really listen’ and not only to her front up autocue stuff, but also listen to her aside opinions,comments and questions, sometimes these asides are about topics they have had explained to the sunrise team and or even raised themselves during their couch sessions, and/or life’s experiences before and now outside of sunrise

    Such comments and questions, to those who do listen, quickly expose she seems to live in an self insulated world of her own, and seemingly the world of a select few of her friends in her social circle and of course the high profile persona cocoon conjured up by the sunrise media machine, ‘And there is entirely nothing wrong with this!’, but is it Samantha Armytage?, or is it who she feeds off (ie.AOK)

  2. Well SAgr8 ‘poaching’ Karl will make it easier for Matt White to move over to Speed / Ch10 (again) for the V8s next year… Karl sounds like he is like a footy player trying to talk up his worth…

  4. I think the more interesting story here may have been the one that Nova seemingly edited from last Friday’s cross back to young Karlos.
    On the previous Friday when Karl was pranking Dickie he told Wilkins of the big news that he would be leaving and Wilkins started to say that he had some big news as well.
    Nova and Karl immediately retracted and broke the prank obviously fearing some sort of untimely disclosure,the following week that was removed from the interview……would love to know what Dickie was about to say?

  5. @mistaken – agree Chris Bath should have stayed. Not sure why they thought Mark Ferguson is stronger. Ian Ross was the news presenter on the Today show before making the switch to 7 news, and it was a huge success. The transition can be made, and Karl/Mel are very strong Sydney identities. In WA/SA, 7 news dominates with very strong state names/identities.

  6. If we’re going to replace anything, could we get a good set? Every time they get a new one it’s yet another gaudy, bright electro thing that is the last thing I want to be looking at early in the morning.

  8. @SAgr8 Seven should never have replaced Chris Bath. She was the fall guy for terrible content and production. Strongly disagree with a Karl/Mel combination. Morning tv hosts don’t make credible news anchors IMO and after the disaster 7 News has become they need credibility pronto.

  10. Stefanovic has made no secret of the fact he wants to move on but it would be surprising, as well as insane, for them to replace Lisa and/or Georgie at the same time.

    Peter Stefanovic did a fabulous job over the Christmas period.

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