TV NETWORKS’ STAR WARS
CHANNEL Seven’s bold bid this week to poach Eddie McGuire has sent a warning shot through all the TV networks.
Right now, network bosses will be making sure topflight talent including Karl Stefanovic, Carrie Bickmore and Scott Cam have watertight
contracts. Management knows that certain stars are absolutely crucial to their company’s success – and they can’t afford to lose them at any price.
Seven chairman Kerry Stokes and CEO Tim Worner reportedly wanted McGuire to quit Nine and front a new 5.30pm game show, replacing Million Dollar Minute, on their channel to rival Channel Nine’s Millionaire Hot Seat.
The deal wouldn’t have come cheap, with McGuire already pocketing more than $1 million a year at Nine.
Seven’s failed attempt to get McGuire is the latest in a swag of big-money deals that have been waved under the noses of TV stars.
Recent years have seen a string of talent jump networks including Sonia Kruger, Hamish and Andy, Grant Denyer,
Ian “Dicko” Dickson and Dr Andrew Rochford. Competing networks have tried to poach Stefanovic, Larry Emdur and the MasterChef judges.
Stars in bidding wars have commanded hefty pay rises – even if they have stayed put.
Just ask Emdur who, in 2011, inked a deal worth a reported $800,000 a year to stay as co-host of The Morning Show after being approached
with a lucrative deal by Nine to potentially co-host Today.
Seven has tried multiple times to convince Stefanovic to leave Nine. One of those attempts came in 2008 when Nine’s Today was hurting Sun
rise in the breakfast show wars. “Seven made a great offer, but ultimately I am loyal to Nine and the Gyng (Nine boss David Gyngell),” Stefanovic said.
“I’m more than happy here. It’s as simple as that.”
Stefanovic’s loyalty has paid off. He does the occasional 60
Minutes story while also pocketing about $1 million a year.
So why do networks poach? One big reason is to hurt the opposition. McGuire’s Millionaire Hot Seat has been crushing Seven’s
Million Dollar Minute in the
5.30pm timeslot.
“It would make a big difference if Eddie was not on Nine at 5.30pm,” media analyst Steve Allen says.
“He still draws an audience, he could have been important to Seven’s AFL coverage, and they could have developed other shows around him.”
Seven has form when it comes to nabbing shows. It grabbed Kath & Kim from the ABC.
It was a move that paid immediate dividends. When the first episode of the fourth season screened, it averaged a record 2.521 million viewers.
The ABC has often been a poaching target because of its lower pay but ABC star Chris Lilley is happy to stay despite numerous approaches. He reckons the ABC gives him artistic independence that money can’t buy.