Lisa Wilkinson ‘wanted $2.3m’: Channel Nine denies row is over gender pay gap
TV breakfast host Lisa Wilkinson was asking for $500,000 above the $1.8m she was offered to co-host Nine’s Today, the chief executive of the Nine Entertainment Co Hugh Marks has said.
Marks said when he refused to agree to the $2.3m package demanded by her agent, Nick Fordham, her contract with Nine was terminated.
Wilkinson’s co-host for 10 years, Karl Stefanovic, is on a $2m package and in 2017 Wilkinson was on $1.1m but was offered an additional $700,000 in 2018.
“I went to an incredible amount of trouble to build that [$1.8m] package for her,” Marks said.
“She wanted $2.3m. It wasn’t a $200,000 shortfall to [Stefanovic’s] $2m magic number. It was $500,000.”
On day three of the highly public fallout from the breakdown between Channel Nine and Wilkinson, Marks went on the record to deny that she was a victim of gender pay disparity after Nine was pilloried in the media for paying Stefanovic more than Wilkinson.
Marks said Stefanovic was paid more because he had more responsibilities at the network including a hit prime-time show and because Wilkinson had multiple commercial agreements outside Nine.
“The reason we walked away from Lisa is because we are not able to secure those [other] rights with her,” Marks said.
“She has a number of commercial rights with other parties. Her arrangement with the Huffington Post restricts our ability to engage with her digitally – we are restricted from engaging with her also on social media.
“I hate the fact we have to compare her with Karl, but with him we have all those rights. With Lisa we do not.”
Wilkinson was criticised by ABC TV’s Media Watch last month for risking her editorial credibility by fronting a campaign for Nutra-Life Kyolic Aged Garlic extract which she said “may help to support healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels”.
Marks said he refused to cough up another $500,000 for the star because it would pay for another 10 producer jobs.
Tim Burrowes, the founder of the media and marketing industry website Mumbrella, said the gender disparity argument had been overplayed in this case.
“There’s plenty of evidence of a gender disparity in pay for people working in the media and wider communications industry,” Burrowes told Guardian Australia. “But Lisa Wilkinson’s battle with Nine isn’t a great example of it.
“She works for multiple employers including writing for the Huffington Post and doing work for brands, while Stefanovic works exclusively for Nine, and does other shows including 60 Minutes and This Time Next Year which was a primetime hit.
“This feels like a negotiation that broke down and some sophisticated spinning, rather than a big matter of principle.”
The editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Australia, Tory Maguire, confirmed she had signed Wilkinson as editor-at-large for 2018.
Some media outlets are claiming that Wilkinson, who will host the Walkley awards in Brisbane next month, is getting paid more than $2m by the Ten network for a still unspecified role which includes hosting The Sunday Project.
But industry sources say this is highly unlikely given Ten’s record of paying its personalities far less and its parlous financial state.
The Ten network has already had to deny that Project co-host Carrie Bickmore will be replaced by Wilkinson.
“Lisa will be hosting our new Sunday edition of the show and joining the program during the week to share her expertise and insights with Carrie, Waleed and Pete,” the executive producer, Craig Campbell, told Fairfax. “I believe our trio is already the best on TV and they are excited to have the chance to play alongside Lisa. We couldn’t imagine how our team could have gotten any better until now.”
Wilkinson has been contacted for comment.