Karl Stefanovic is on the verge of being the most wanted man in radio \u2013 and he\u2019s apparently so in demand he might have the leverage to keep the one thing he wants.<\/p>\n
Stefanovic\u2019s reported $2 million contract with Nine ends in December, and it is becoming increasingly clear that his future is in radio \u2013 however, news.com.au understands he\u2019s determined to retain ownership of his podcast.<\/p>\n
While it would be an attractive acquisition for any network able to get Stefanovic on its books, News.com.au understands The Karl Stefanovic Show is not for sale.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Stu Laundy \u2013 the son of pub baron Arthur Landy, who just bought 2GB off Nine \u2013 certainly didn\u2019t deny the prospect of Stefanovic joining the broadcaster.<\/p>\n
Both of Arthur\u2019s sons \u2013 Craig, a former Liberal politician, and Stu, who famously briefly dated Sophie Monk on The Bachelorette \u2013 work for the family business.<\/p>\n
The Laundy dynasty only took possession of 2GB in early May after purchasing it from Nine for over $50 million.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been barely two weeks, but Stu certainly seemed keen on the idea of Stefanovic joining the network.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a great mate,\u201d he told news.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d consider Karl for anything. I think he is a wonderful human, and I\u2019d like him to be the godfather of my unborn son, but I have four daughters!\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Stu singing Stefanovic\u2019s praises isn\u2019t a guarantee that he will end up at 2GB in 2027, ruling the airwaves alongside Today Show alum Ben Fordham.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not in charge, though,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Stu is not the only media player who wants Stefanovic on the books. <\/p>\n
It is no secret that ARN executives (which at this point are a Nine alum club, with Michael Stephenson, Nine\u2019s former chief of sales, and Kerri Elstub, former director ofNine.com.au) are keen to get Stefanovic on the airwaves.<\/p>\n
So keen, in fact, that they were interested in him weeks before The Kyle and Jackie O Show was scrapped.<\/p>\n
At the time, they were eyeing him for a drive role on either KIIS or GOLD. <\/p>\n
Despite Stefanovic being contracted to Nine for another five months, he isn\u2019t being subtle about his future either. <\/p>\n
He has even said that he \u201cprobably will\u201d end up on radio and is definitely keen on landing a mainstream media gig.<\/p>\n
What he hasn\u2019t said publicly is that he wants a radio gig, but not at the cost of his flourishing podcast career. <\/p>\n
However, news.com.au understands he hasn\u2019t done the podcast purely to show radio executives what he is capable of, and he is not interested in selling The Karl Stefanovic Show to any major broadcaster either. <\/p>\n
Instead, after years under Nine\u2019s thumb, the 51-year-old wants to maintain full creative control.<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t to say the podcast is entirely off the table \u2013 nothing ever is in show business \u2013 but it is understood that Stefanovic would need some serious convincing to sign the show over, especially because it is already both a commercial and viewership success.<\/p>\n
Stefanovic said yesterday in an interview at Cairns Crocodile that it took three years of talking to Nine before he could even convince the network to let him do the podcast independently. So why would he hand the reins over now? <\/p>\n
The problem is that getting his podcast and getting him on the airwaves is an attractive deal for any radio employer. There is no doubt that whoever wants him will want both: him as on-air talent and rights to the show \u2013 but he might have the leverage to refuse. <\/p>\n
The Nine star has found himself in the lucky position of having both ARN bosses and the Laundys (at least one of them) wanting him. <\/p>\n
You have to give Stefanovic credit where credit is due. Most veteran television stars at the end of a lucrative two-decade tenure don\u2019t reinvent themselves in the last 12 months of their contract.<\/p>\n
He is going into the end of 2026 without any risk of fading into obscurity. In fact, media giants could end up scrapping over him. <\/p>\n
Stefanovic is becoming quite the sought-after radio star, and he may not need to sign over his podcast rights to land a lucrative radio contract. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Karl Stefanovic is on the verge of being the most wanted man in radio \u2013 and he\u2019s apparently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-426865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}