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Lisa Wilkinson quits Nine to join The Project

Lisa Wilkinson no longer wakes up with Today, in a coup for Network TEN.

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Lisa Wilkinson is parting ways with the Nine Network and joining The Project.

She will join Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Peter Helliar on the TEN show, including hosting The Sunday Project.

TEN Chief Content Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: “Lisa Wilkinson is one of the most respected journalists and television presenters in Australia and we are thrilled that she has agreed to join Network Ten’s fantastic stable of on-air talent.

“In a career that has spanned magazines, radio, television and digital media, Lisa has established her credentials as a leading figure in the Australian media industry. She has a great connection to the Australian public and a reputation that is second to none. We are proud that she has agreed to join the acclaimed team at The Project and The Sunday Project.”

She leaves Nine after six months of protracted negotiations between Nine CEO Hugh Marks and Wilkinson’s long-time agent Nick Fordham broke down, with reports suggesting they were abruptly terminated during a 5pm meeting today.

Wilkinson, who recently celebrated her 10th anniversary with Today, is understood to have been seeking salary parity with her male co-host Karl Stefanovic.

In a statement Wilkinson said: “I want to thank Channel Nine for the privilege of co-hosting the Today Show for the last ten years. I would particularly like to acknowledge my colleagues Karl, Sylvia, Georgie, Tim, Richard, Stevie and Natalia, as well as all the hard working producers and the entire team behind the cameras — every one of them has contributed to the incredible success of the show. Most particularly though I want to thank the Today Show audience who have been so supportive and incredibly loyal to me over the last decade. I can never thank you enough and I look forward to seeing you soon.”

Nine’s Director of News and Current Affairs Darren Wick confirmed Wilkinson would not be returning to the show, following the impasse.

“Nine will take the Today show in a different direction, although we are not yet sure what direction that will be,” he said.

Nine CEO Hugh Marks, said, “The partnership between Lisa and Karl has taken the show to the success it is today and we thank Lisa for everything she has done for the show and for Nine over the past ten years. We wish her well for the future.”

Further collaborations between Wilkinson and TEN will be announced in the coming months.

This post updates.

Source: News Corp,  Fairfax

47 Responses

  4. Stefanovic gets $2m and works in prime-time because he threatened to quit, join Seven and boost their news and current affairs in the Sydney market. Nine want Wilkison for Today but couldn’t meet what she was demanding to stay. It’s not surprising that someone who’s done Breakfast for a decade would want to try something else. So she will so the Project on Ten in prime-time.

  5. LW certainly gave some semblance of class and intelligence to Today. There’s no reason why she can’t do the same on The Project, yet it still seems rather a waste of her talents. I hope Ten can come up with something better.

    1. Have to agree.

      While I was an earlier support of The Project, it hasn’t morphed into any hard hitting news show. That may be fine for Lisa, but with most “stories” not going for more than 2 minutes followed by 4 minutes of ads, it is certainty not a place for hard hitting news. Waleed gets a clear run every so often, but often all stories are punctuated by jokes and light-weight questions. Again this may be fine and she at least knows the product she is stepping into. Hell I would do the same if someone paid me $2m smackaroos.

  6. If Today want something different i think they should have two male hosts. Karl and Ben Fordam would be good to watch together and would be a nice change from the normal male/female host. This is what I like to see.

  8. Let’s face it. Nine has been a boy’s network for as long as anybody can remember and so many of these executives move between networks with the same attitudes towards women. Very few women make it to executive positions and most don’t last very long. The world is changing but not Nine. The irony is that aside from its sporting coverage it is a female audience which really sustains it. Perhaps a few females on the Nine Board might effect some change. Good luck to Lisa. I hope she got a huge pay rise but somehow doubt it.

  10. Wow, 9 are damn fools to let her go. With all the numerous panel discussions they have on the show about the inequality of women’s salaries compared to men, quite ironic that they wouldn’t come to the table on this. Lisa will be missed & whoever replaces her will have big shoes to fill. Wonder if they’ll try & poach Sam from Sunrise. According to the magazines her & Karl are good mates. To Karl’s credit, he gave a beautiful speech this morning about Lisa. I’m glad they at least did that. Sometimes when people leave they never get mentioned. If this has been going on behind the scenes for a while, it explains the big fuss they made of her 10th anniversary a while back. They probably realised if she leaves suddenly she won’t get a farewell show.

    1. i have heard the same thing as well. Karl and Sam are good friends. i only suggested to some this morning that they should poach some people to replace lisa and or karl or both if karl decides to leave.
      Sam from Sunrise i think could be good on the show with karl or maybe karl and that lady who hosted lateline.

  11. We will have to wait for the real story. Lisa has just reaffirmed her marriage vows with Peter FitzSimons AM. My GP has often said to me “Lifestyle Changes”. Another case of “Watch This Space.”

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