Nine has failed to explain the reasons behind the headline-making story. Here’s what we know.
In this edition of Media McKnight:
- Karl Stefanovic sacked — what Nine isn’t saying
- My Reno Rules gone
- ACCC takes on Amazon Prime Video ads
- Waitress the Musical cancelled
- Microdramas: trend or flop? w/ Dan Barrett
You can watch the video edition of Media McKnight in the YouTube player below:
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KARL TRUTH BOMB
What a week it’s been for Karl Stefanovic and Channel 9.
Channel 9’s golden boy has been unceremoniously fired and is now free to focus on his burgeoning podcast career.
I went live with the breaking news last week on McKnight Tonight.
Nine refused to deny the story, but it became common knowledge within the industry and through media reports.
It took Nine and Karl a few days to sort out the details, but they finally confirmed the reporting.
I’ve shared my thoughts about this on McKnight Tonight, TV news bulletins, podcasts, radio and television shows – so you don’t need me to repeat it here – but whatever you think of the people Karl interviews and how he does it, he certainly is building an audience, having hit over 100-thousand subscribers on YouTube.
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But will he eventually make enough to match his previous income at Nine?
Probably not, but he has done what he needed to do, knowing Nine was not going to renew his contract beyond this year.
A fact they admitted in their very short press release announcing Karl’s departure.
Nine Entertainment and Karl Stefanovic have agreed that it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast. While Karl and Nine had previously agreed he would leave Today at the end of this year, they have subsequently decided he will leave the Network immediately.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
This is the thing that gets me, that is all he gets after being one of the biggest stars in recent times on the network.
And Nine hasn’t actually said why he couldn’t continue.
Was it because of the content?
Was it because of the way the interviews were conducted?
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Or was it because of the financial risk after the Mad Witches said they were launching a #KancelKarl campaign?
In my opinion, that was probably the final straw – in these tough times, TV network’s can’t afford a revenue downturn because of an anti-Karl campaign.
But Channel 9 has not clearly explained why.
In an email to staff, Nine News boss Fiona Dear said:
Protecting freedom of speech is at the core of 9News and Current Affairs. We have a rich history of interviewing controversial figures, and journalists have an obligation to ask difficult questions. Part of what makes us tick is trying to understand why people are the way they are, or think the way they think. We welcome open debate and challenging norms with constructive, balanced arguments.
As journalists, we play a critical role in society to question, challenge, and hold people to account regardless of where they come from or which political party or views they represent.
I am acutely aware how challenging this has been, particularly for our Today Show team. If you need any support, myself and my leadership team are here for you.
Nine is saying they protect free speech, but they’ve sacked Karl for doing an interview.
Or was it because he didn’t ask difficult questions?
There’s been no clear statement.
And what does Karl’s sacking mean for Channel 9 and the TODAY show?
Many people have asked me who I think will replace Karl and the truth is I have absolutely no idea.
RATINGS IMPACT
Unlike Sunrise, TODAY never seems to have a succession plan in place.
Also, could producers use this opportunity to reformat the show and have a distinct point of difference with Sunrise.
The show needs something.
TODAY languishes behind the Channel 7 breakfast show – it’s embarrassing how far behind it is.
On Monday this week, Sunrise averaged 458,000 compared to TODAY’s 265,000.
It was even beaten by The Morning Show, which drew 303,000 viewers.
Back in 2019, I published an article on the TV Blackbox website with some ideas of a format change.
Some critics might think it’s very similar to what I did with Studio 10 – and they’re right! That’s because the format I devised for the Channel 10 morning show connected with viewers in a different way to the other breakfast and morning shows.
As far as I’m concerned, the ideas in that article still hold strong, and it’s just sitting there for the producers of TODAY to pick and choose from.
But it would require a leap of faith and a belief in doing something different.
The question is whether anyone in the television industry at the moment is capable of having big ideas and mixing things up, rather than just plodding along doing the same old, same old and expecting a different outcome.
NO RENO RULES
Channel 7 is set to be one reality TV show short next year, with word Anthony Portelli’s My Reno Rules won’t return for season two in the short term.
As I revealed in the Daily Mail’s INSIDE MAIL column last Thursday, Portelli has missed his window to have the show made in time to air before The Block.
While ratings were good for the renovation series, the biggest drawcard for Seven was the fact Portelli paid for the entire thing – certainly helping the network in these troubled financial times.
What’s also unclear is Portelli’s commitment to another season.
Media McKnight understands he has not said whether he would fund the show again.
Without his money, there is no show.
Seven hasn’t ruled out teaming up with Portelli for a second season, but I’m told there’s no way it would be able to air before 2028.
THE ACCC TAKES ON AMAZON
Remember when commercials suddenly started popping up on Amazon Prime Video?
Consumers weren’t given a choice, it became the default option unless you decided to upgrade to a new premium package.
The news made headlines around the world at the time because, unlike other streaming companies, Amazon didn’t offer a lower price for the commercial offering.
Now the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has entered the fray, taking the company to court for using allegedly unfair contract terms.
According to the statement released on Monday:
Between November 2023 and August 2025, Amazon AU’s Prime contracts with more than one million annual subscribers contained what the ACCC alleges were five unfair contract terms that allowed it to unilaterally make negative changes during the contract period without offering subscribers a remedy.
It is also alleged that Amazon AU later relied on one or more of these unfair terms when it introduced ads to Prime Video in Australia in July 2024. Prior to that, Amazon Prime Video was almost entirely ad-free.
After July 2024, subscribers who wanted to maintain ad-free streaming had to pay an additional $2.99 per month. This was despite annual subscribers already having paid $79 upfront for the service.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, consumer redress, costs and other orders.
This case is one of the first contested matters taken by the ACCC that falls under the new penalty regime for unfair contract terms, which applies to contracts made or renewed from 9 November 2023.
ANOTHER MUSICAL CANCELLED
Just the other week, I was making the case for the casting of stars in local musical productions.
It came off the back of Beetlejuice: The Musical’s national tour being cancelled at the end of its Brisbane run.
I made a point about the success of the musical Waitress, starring Nat Bass.
That musical had come under fire for stunt casting.
My point was ‘stunt’ casting is needed to make people part with their money.
Well, it turns out not even the star power of Nat Bass and Rob Mills could save the show with news the show will finish up before its planned move to Sydney.
Producers have blamed cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty for soft ticket sales.
As soon as the news came through about the cancellation of Waitress, people were getting in contact, seemingly happy I was wrong about something.
But I stand by it.
I still think Nat Bass and Rob Mills gave consumers the best choice to part with their money in a cost of living crisis.
Maybe it lasted longer than it would have. I don’t know. I can’t definitively say that. But my point is the theatre community needs to make sure it’s not turning on itself when these choices are made for commercial reasons.
Instead, those working in the industry should just be happy there’s any work at all because, after these setbacks, things are only going to get worse.
ARE MICRODRAMAS THE FUTURE?
You might have noticed Microdramas appearing on your social media feed.
These are short-form, serialised content – usually requiring a subscription and running around two minutes.
But at a time when YouTube wants longer content, is there a market for microdramas?
Dan Barrett had some thoughts on this in a recent edition of his ‘Always Be Watching’ newsletter, so I spoke to him in the video edition of Media McKnight.
“In the last couple of years, there’s been this massive talk about the amount of interest that supposedly exists with audiences about microdramas and some platforms like TikTok have actually spent a bit of money, not a lot of money, but a little bit of money to try to lure the microdrama audience to the platform”.
But Dan does not believe the future is bright for microdramas, with big tech pulling investment in the content, specifically an Indian company called PocketFM.
“They’ve spent about six months playing around in this space and are pulling out of it because they just sort of realised that they are more or less playing in a space where they’re surrounded by grifters”.
By grifters, Dan is talking about subscription models that are extremely hard to cancel. It appears the companies behind these microdramas are using tactics like this to retain customers longer. The content itself is leading to a high churn rate.
The idea of short-form content also goes against the growth of long-form content on YouTube, which has become a priority for the company.
For more of Dan’s insights into this topic, you can watch the interview HERE.
A QUESTION ABOUT RATINGS
I received a question via email that I thought would interest the people who watch this show, so I figured I’d answer it here.
Lee writes:
Gday, love your segment, I find it really interesting.
Every time I see Albanese or Charmers I turn the channel immediately and don’t go back to that channel until its safe to.
Can you tell in the ratings or it doesn’t work that way?
I’m dying to know.
TV ratings have minute by minute ratings, which allows executives to literally see what’s happening every minute of a TV Show.
It allows producers and executives to see if a guest like the Prime Minister leads to a dip.
If it does, you know he’s a turnoff.
In fact, A Current Affair used to interview politicians at the start of every show and then when minute by minute reports became available they realised politicians don’t rate and stopped interviewing them every night.
Breakfast shows like TODAY and Sunrise try to balance potential turnoff segments with politicians in the hope of creating viral news-making content.
Honestly though, you have to be careful with these reports because you can really get into the weeds and give yourself a headache.
Send your questions (and tips) to [email protected] and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Media McKnight is published on YouTube every Tuesday at 8pm AEST at YouTube.com/@McKnightTonight.
The article goes live on the TV Blackbox website every Wednesday morning.
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