Karl Stefanovic reportedly set to leave Nine after Tommy Robinson podcast — ABC NEWS

[0:00] Well Channel 9's newspapers are reporting that long time Today show host Karl Stefanovic [0:04] is expected to leave the network. [0:06] This is after he published a podcast interview with British far-right figure Tommy Robinson. [0:12] To get into the thick of it, media strategist and Maxim Kohn's founder Steve Carey joins [0:17] us now. [0:18] Hello Steve. [0:19] Good morning. [0:20] We've got this reporting from the nine newspapers. [0:23] What exactly is going on here? [0:24] What's happening at the moment is that we've got a disconnect between Karl's long-term [0:29] employer Channel 9 and Karl who's pushing and forging ahead with his own very successful [0:34] I might say podcast called The Karl Stefanovic Show. [0:38] And Karl knows because he's been in the business as long as anybody that controversy makes the [0:43] best kind of engagement. [0:45] It just does. [0:46] So when he's gone to London, which is where apparently he still is, he's interviewed Tommy [0:50] Robinson. [0:51] He's posted that on his podcast. [0:53] It's a bit of a soft shoe shuffle. [0:56] The 9 has clearly hit the panic button and said, this is not aligning with our brand. [1:02] Our brand for Morning Today Show is a bit softer, a bit more thoughtful, a bit more inclusive. [1:09] Karl's going off doing his own thing. [1:11] So now we're going to have this chat with him about his future at The 9 Network. [1:16] But to me, it's all about Karl creating and making a controversial podcast to get engagement [1:22] for his podcast. [1:23] Surely there would have been a fear at Channel 9 about advertisers, right? [1:26] Like Channel 9 is a business, right? [1:28] I mean, let's just be open about it. [1:31] And they'd be worried about what sort of flow and effect they might have. [1:33] And I mean, from Karl's point of view, this does seem to be pretty deliberate, right? [1:37] As you mentioned, 20 years has been around for a long time, one of the biggest names in [1:40] Australian media. [1:41] He's, and look, like you know better than anybody, the rigors of getting up to come and [1:47] do a show on breakfast TV where you've got to be on all the time and across many, many [1:52] different things. [1:52] Karl has been there and put in the hard work for decades. [1:55] No question about that. [1:56] And he's no stranger to controversy. [1:58] I mean, there was the time at the Logies when he allegedly appeared after that, you know, [2:03] half cut. [2:03] There was the car park stash allegedly with Michael Clarke. [2:07] There are a whole stack of things. [2:09] But Karl, better than anybody, knows that controversy creates the best kind of engagement where we're [2:15] inflamed by it. [2:15] And therefore, we may not like it, but we have an opinion about it. [2:19] So with his podcast, he's even called himself the, you know, he was, it was put to him, [2:24] is he the American version of Joe Rogan, who's wildly successful? [2:29] And Karl, who wants to be all things to all people at the moment, called himself Joe Bogan [2:34] because he's trying to tap a big, untapped, unloved, apparently audience. [2:40] And he's doing that pretty successfully. [2:42] Should he have interviewed Tommy Robinson in a very, what purports to be a very soft shoe [2:47] shuffle kind of interview, I would have liked to have been more incisive. [2:52] But I haven't seen it. [2:53] But the person who has come to Karl's defence, of course, is One Nation's Pauline Hanson. [2:58] So that when the material was scrubbed from his own feed, she reposted it. [3:04] So, you know, and basically had a lash at Channel 9 in doing so. [3:07] I mean, I don't want to put, there's this statement from Pauline Hanson. [3:11] I don't want to put you on the spot too much, but you have been a director of commercial [3:15] TV station. [3:17] What sort of conversations happen in this moment behind the scenes? [3:20] What sort of things would actually be going into this? [3:22] So what's happening at the moment, there'll be very high level conversations with the, [3:27] not only the national head of news, HR, management, as you would expect. [3:32] This is a brand moment for Channel 9. [3:35] Channel 9 faces a potential backlash from one of its biggest stars. [3:40] Karl strategically has six months to run on a very lucrative, if we can believe it, contract. [3:45] So at the moment, they'd be looking for a way to get out of that in the least possible [3:50] brand damage way. [3:51] Will Karl actually come back? [3:53] Because apparently he's still in London. [3:55] Who knows? [3:56] I mean, if they can massage it so it's a win-win and everybody walks away happy. [4:00] But it seems unlikely at the moment. [4:02] So strategically, you'd have to ask yourself, what are they willing to give up to make it [4:08] as least palatable as it possibly can be? [4:13] So everyone can walk away and go, Karl got what he want, which is six months release out [4:18] of his contract and the controversy of getting people into his program. [4:22] And what does 9 get? [4:24] Can they salvage some of the good feeling about that megastar so that when he leaves, [4:28] they do it in a way where it's going to be less damaging than it already is? [4:33] OK. [4:33] Steve Carey, thank you very much for your insight. [4:35] Appreciate it. [4:36] Thank you, Steve. [4:36] And we do have a statement from 9 as well that I think we should probably just bring up [4:41] for you. [4:42] There it is. [4:42] It says that the Karl Stefanovic show is a completely independent production. [4:46] 9 has no involvement, including in the guest selection and other editorial processes. [4:50] However, 9 is taking this matter seriously.