Hugh Marks, the head of Channel Nine, has reportedly blamed Lisa Wilkinson’s ‘multiple commercial contracts’ for her abrupt departure from the network.
Saying she spread herself ‘too thin’ across rival media platforms, Marks claims Stefanovic was wholly dedicated to Channel Nine.
Wilkinson made a swift and abrupt exit from the Nine network on Monday because they could ‘not meet her expectations’. The 57-year-old was demanding ‘pay parity’ with her co-host, who was widely reported to have signed a $2 million per annum, three-year deal with Nine.
According to Fairfax, Nine refused to pay Lisa as much as Karl because he has other roles as a presenter on 60 Minutes and host of successful prime time show This Time Next Year.
Marks told The Daily Telegraph that he let Wilkinson go because she was spread across too many media outlets, such as her role as editor-at-large of the Huffington Post, and had refused to let them go.
‘The reason we walked away from Lisa is because we are not able to secure those rights [across all areas] with her,’ Marks told the publication.
He continued, ‘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.’
Soon after the shocking news of Lisa’s departure from Nine, Channel Ten took to social media to announce they had successfully sign Wilkinson onto popular news show The Project.
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