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Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

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Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, January twenty seven, twenty twenty six. Former Liberal

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Speaker 1: minister Linda Reynolds has warned the producers of a controversial

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Speaker 1: new documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival that she

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Speaker 1: will sue them if they allege she tried to silence

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Speaker 1: Brittany Higgins. That's after Reynolds's successful defamation action against Higgins

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Speaker 1: and her husband David Scharraz. Another week, another leadership drama

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Speaker 1: in the Federal Liberal Party, with rivals Andrew Hasty and

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Speaker 1: Angus Taylor counting their supporters ahead of a potential challenge

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Speaker 1: to embattled leader Susan Lee. You can follow that story

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Speaker 1: live at the Australian dot com dot au. They were

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Speaker 1: once among Australia's most influential media families. Now the billionaire

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Speaker 1: Stokes clan wants out of Network seven altogether. But if

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Speaker 1: Rival nine is anything to go by, journalism takes a

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Speaker 1: back seat when the accountants are driving a media business.

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Speaker 1: Just ask nine superstar Karl Stefanovic. He's taken a huge

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Speaker 1: pay cut and been allowed to start his own Rival show,

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Speaker 1: So what's that all about today? The Australian's Media Diary

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Speaker 1: editor Steve Jackson is here. Steve Jackson edits The Australian's

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Speaker 1: Media Diary and Steve, from time to time you write

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Speaker 1: about the really big moves in Australian media. The one

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Speaker 1: that I'm very interested in for twenty twenty six is

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Speaker 1: the sale of seven West Media by Kerry Stokes and family.

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Speaker 1: Kerry Stokes is one of Australia's most interesting business people.

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Speaker 1: Adopted as a child, grew up in real poverty, became

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Speaker 1: TV repair man, ended up owning Channel seven and becoming

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Speaker 1: very powerful.

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Speaker 2: Now he's selling out.

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Speaker 3: Why Kerry Stokes is Channel seven, He is the man.

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Speaker 3: He's the driving force behind its success. When he came

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Speaker 3: in it was indisputably second place to nine nine. We're

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Speaker 3: still the one, the dominant channel. I think everyone remembers

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Speaker 3: the ads, but Kerry Stokes comes in, he decides I'm

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Speaker 3: going to change things up. He's brought in the right people,

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Speaker 3: famously brought across David Lecky from nine and then he

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Speaker 3: started building up Channel seven and low and behold over

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Speaker 3: the years. He really was the force behind driving its success.

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Speaker 3: Mainly because he believed in television.

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Speaker 4: Because I love what we do. I love the fact that,

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Speaker 4: regardless of the headaches, we produce for the Austraunian public,

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Speaker 4: quality news, quality sports coverage and good entertainment.

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Speaker 3: He might only have ever counted as one viewer for

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Speaker 3: Channel seven, but he was a very important viewer and

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Speaker 3: he actually knew what audiences wanted. And internally at seven,

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Speaker 3: they've always prided themselves and being the barbecue chuk network,

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Speaker 3: you know, the network that gets what every day Alie's like, the.

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Speaker 4: News from people who know what they're talking about. Seven

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Speaker 4: nightly news with knights at six.

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Speaker 3: And he's been such a huge part of that and

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Speaker 3: supporting it, believing in the station. He watches the channel

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Speaker 3: when he's away overseas on holidays, he gets tape sent

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Speaker 3: to him. You know, he wants to know what's on

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Speaker 3: air because he loves it and lives it and breathes it,

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Speaker 3: or at least he has up until now. What we've

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Speaker 3: seen is a massive change in the media environment. Mister Stokes,

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Speaker 3: he's going out. He's decided that after a little prolonged

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Speaker 3: period of upheaval, he's got other things to do with

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Speaker 3: his time. He wants to spend more time with his family.

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Speaker 3: He wants to go skiing in his cabin. He loves

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Speaker 3: scuba diving off Indonesia, and he's handing on the Keyst's

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Speaker 3: kingdom to his son Ryan. What we see with Roy

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Speaker 3: coming in is going, you know, we've got this massive

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Speaker 3: seven Group holdings. It's making billions of dollars. Unfortunately the

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Speaker 3: media arm contributing one percent of the profits to that,

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Speaker 3: if we're being kind, but causing them ninety nine percent

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Speaker 3: of their headaches.

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Speaker 4: And he's just said not interested.

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Speaker 3: Let's focus on Borrel, Let's focus on West Track, the

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Speaker 3: stuff that's making us money. The media is nice, but

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Speaker 3: for us, that's not the big picture anymore. They had

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Speaker 3: a forty percent stake in seven West Media, which includes

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Speaker 3: obviously Channel seven but also the West Australian newspaper and

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Speaker 3: a number of online entities.

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Speaker 4: But they said all right, let's move away from that.

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Speaker 3: There's been a merge with Southern Cross Austeria, which is

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Speaker 3: obviously a massive radio network, has triple am Hit Networks,

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Speaker 3: and their shareholding has come down to twenty percent. But

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Speaker 3: now I'm hearing they don't even want that twenty percent.

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Speaker 3: And Ryan Stokes has instructed the incoming chair of Seven

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Speaker 3: Group Holdings.

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Speaker 4: Let's get rid of it. Let's offload it now.

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Speaker 3: It's not the first time that we've seen the air

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Speaker 3: to a major media empire.

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Speaker 5: Go.

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Speaker 4: That was Dad's thing. He loved it. For me, Me

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Speaker 4: not so much.

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Speaker 3: James Packer famously did it when he took over Nine

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Speaker 3: from the other Kerry that was a major media mogul.

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Speaker 5: In two thousand and six, James Packer sold the bulk

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Speaker 5: of the Nine network to a private equity group for

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Speaker 5: four point six billion dollars and upped his anti and

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Speaker 5: casinos around the world, but was hit hard by the

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Speaker 5: global financial crisis.

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Speaker 3: And look, did he get out at the right time.

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Speaker 3: I reckon history would say that James made the right

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Speaker 3: decision then, and I reckon that we'll find that from

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Speaker 3: a business point of view, Ryan is making the right

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Speaker 3: decision now. As we all know, media is the game

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Speaker 3: that you're getting into just to make money these days,

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Speaker 3: probably not. There are other things that make heap more money,

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Speaker 3: as obviously Ryan Stokes knows. But meat has always been

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Speaker 3: about more than that. It's about influence, it's about passion

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Speaker 3: for journalism, and sometimes those things that drive the media

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Speaker 3: organization sending someone at great expense, a crew at great

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Speaker 3: expense to a war zone that doesn't make money. It's

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Speaker 3: a social responsibility that you feel as media proprietor. So

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Speaker 3: from a business point of view, if you don't love

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Speaker 3: the media, you don't really want to be in it.

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Speaker 3: There are easy ways in the world to make a buck.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, to be a tycoon, you probably have to really

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Speaker 1: enjoy the combat and that's something that Kerry Packer absolutely

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Speaker 1: did love.

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Speaker 2: He loved going into battle with politicians.

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Speaker 1: Kerry Stokes probably too, although there's one issue that Kerry

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Speaker 1: Stokes has been very circumspect about and that's how much

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Speaker 1: influence he had over his network seven about one of

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Speaker 1: his pet topics, that is Ben Robert Smith, a former

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Speaker 1: Australian soldier, received the Victoria Cross, our highest medal for gallantry,

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Speaker 1: and was accused by nine of being a war criminal,

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Speaker 1: a finding that was subsequently upheld in court, despite the

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Speaker 1: fact that Ben Robert Smith always denied having done anything wrong.

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Speaker 3: Kerry Stokes has lashed out at the latest reporting of

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Speaker 3: allegations surrounding Australia's most decorated soldier, Ben Robert Smith.

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Speaker 1: Kerry Stokes always backed him to the hills, and also

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Speaker 1: said that he never instructed anyone at seven to cover

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Speaker 1: the Ben Robert Smith's story one way or the other.

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Speaker 1: He said the only thing he ever did was to

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Speaker 1: ring a news director and say that he wanted the

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Speaker 1: story covered fairly. He said he never rang a journalist

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Speaker 1: with specific instructions about that or any other story. What's

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Speaker 1: your sense of how much influence Kerry Stokes actually had

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Speaker 1: on the journalism of seven.

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Speaker 4: It's a good question.

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Speaker 3: It's not how I think he ran it, it's how

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Speaker 3: I know he has never and I will say this unequivocally,

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Speaker 3: he has never told a journalist how to cover a story.

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Speaker 3: He doesn't have to. That's what news bosses are for,

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Speaker 3: mister Stokes will say, and he is one hundred percent right.

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Speaker 4: He is allowed to have a view.

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Speaker 3: And if he tells his news director I think this,

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Speaker 3: his news director is capable of saying, no, you're wrong,

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Speaker 3: this is the way we're covering it. And with Ben

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Speaker 3: Robert Smith, as we've seen in that case, Channel seven

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Speaker 3: did despite what mister Stokes may have directed or encouraged

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Speaker 3: or suggested that his news network do, we did see

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Speaker 3: that they did. They'd actually cover that quite robustly. They

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Speaker 3: did play it really straight. Their news coverage didn't overly

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Speaker 3: or overtly support Bars, it didn't attack him either. They

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Speaker 3: made a really principled decision to cover it honest and fairly.

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Speaker 3: And I think part of that is they know, no

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Speaker 3: matter what anyone says, if they don't do that, News Corp.

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Speaker 3: Nine are quite rightly going to call them out and say, hey,

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Speaker 3: you're being a cheerleader. So their news coverage I don't

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Speaker 3: think was tainted. Were they encouraged to take Brs's side, Yes,

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Speaker 3: they were. Was it a directive or just a point

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Speaker 3: of view? Well, I'm going to leave that to you

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Speaker 3: and the listeners to the side.

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Speaker 1: So, just like a younger James Packer, Ryan Stokes just

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Speaker 1: can't be bothered with all the drama that comes with

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Speaker 1: running a media empire. Every story creates a potential headache.

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Speaker 1: So you'd think that getting out of seven is the

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Speaker 1: right thing for the Stokes family at this time, but

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Speaker 1: is it the right thing for the people who work

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Speaker 1: at seven or the viewers who love seven.

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Speaker 3: It's a game changing difference, right, because when you have

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Speaker 3: a media proprietor who believes in journalism, who loves it,

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Speaker 3: who wants to invest in it, even when it's not

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Speaker 3: the smart, economical, accountant driven decision. That's when you know

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Speaker 3: you've got your full backing. And as a journalist someone

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Speaker 3: in the trenches, you love that. The problem is when

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Speaker 3: you have those media proprietors who believe in the product

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Speaker 3: and who believe in journalism exiting the business and income

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Speaker 3: the accountants and the accountants take charge and it's run

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Speaker 3: like a bank, then you know, for a journalists you

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Speaker 3: lose a lot of that trust that you're going to

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Speaker 3: have that backing or where we're going to be encouraged

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Speaker 3: to push the envelope, because we've seen it with numerous

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Speaker 3: media companies.

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Speaker 4: Income the accountants.

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Speaker 3: They take charge outgo a lot of the stories or

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Speaker 3: a lot of the backing to do big hits that

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Speaker 3: aren't financially viable, and all of a sudden sixty minutes

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Speaker 3: budget it's coming down because the drive that it's got

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Speaker 3: to be the biggest news and current affairs show on TV,

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Speaker 3: no matter the cost, that's not essential anymore.

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Speaker 4: Now it's got to pay its way.

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Speaker 3: So when the accounts take charge, it's a worrying is

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Speaker 3: it going to change everything?

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Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I think it will.

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Speaker 1: And now, of course we see nine, which is run

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Speaker 1: by the accountants, looking to sell off its radio assets.

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Speaker 1: What does that mean for the rest of the nine group.

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Speaker 3: It's funny that the accountants are the ones who want

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Speaker 3: to sell off nine Radio, because I would suggest they're

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Speaker 3: the ones who've created all the headaches.

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Speaker 4: You've got the jurnos. They're still doing their thing as

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Speaker 4: best they can.

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Speaker 3: Their newsrooms are trunk massively, but the accounts who have

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Speaker 3: come in and ruined that model. What happened is nine

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Speaker 3: took it. I over paid a lot of money for it,

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Speaker 3: heaps of money, and then they've gone, you know what

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Speaker 3: we're going to do is we're going to get rid

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Speaker 3: of their entire sales team and we'll just get the

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Speaker 3: guys who are selling the ads on TV selling the

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Speaker 3: ads on nine radio.

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Speaker 4: Turns out, audience is very.

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Speaker 3: Different, and the Bowling Alley who wants their ad on

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Speaker 3: nine news or in married at first sight that don't

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Speaker 3: really care about a demographic of sixty plus who are

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Speaker 3: listening to nine radios two GB or three airw that audience.

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Speaker 3: That's the Mattress warehouse crowd, you know, or they want

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Speaker 3: to know about something that they can buy for their grandkids.

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Speaker 4: So the idea that there's going to be this.

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Speaker 3: Massive synergy doesn't work because there are two very distinct audiences.

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Speaker 3: They've come in the accounts, we're going to save all

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Speaker 3: this money, and all of a sudden they've killed the

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Speaker 3: whole business model. I caught up with Spotlights Liam Bartlett

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Speaker 3: in Sydney last year and we're out at a restaurant

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Speaker 3: and this lady's come up to me when he's inside,

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Speaker 3: he's ordering a pizza and a lady's come up to me.

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Speaker 3: Is that Liam Bartlett from sixty minutes? Because you know

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Speaker 3: he also had a show on nine Radio. He's doing

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Speaker 3: a showing Perth on six PR the morning show.

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Speaker 5: Nineteen minutes to midday. Have you ever been in a meeting,

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Speaker 5: any meeting?

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Speaker 3: I'm from nine Radio Sales, you know. So we're selling

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Speaker 3: ads in his Perth radio show. How's that going good?

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Speaker 4: The advertisers they love it? Well, can't get enough? Do

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Speaker 4: you think I could say loadin? Yeah? Sure, why not?

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Speaker 4: And he comes, oh, you know we're selling ads in

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Speaker 4: your radio show and limb, well, thank you very much.

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Speaker 4: It's very kind of you to say.

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Speaker 3: And you know, the joke being that after she leaves,

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Speaker 3: Liam hadn't been on sixty minutes or nine in radio

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Speaker 3: for two years. He's over at Channel seven at the opposition. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 3: the Integrated sales team is still pitching his ads. So

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Speaker 3: the advertisers they need someone who actually listens to the show.

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Speaker 3: And I'm hearing the same thing out of Melbourne advertisers

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Speaker 3: saying that the TV guys they're trying to sell them

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Speaker 3: ads on three W they're not even up to date

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Speaker 3: with what the shows are, who the presenters are. So

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Speaker 3: that is what they've lost when they try that synergy

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Speaker 3: and you lose that passion or connection with the product.

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Speaker 3: The advertisers they're advertising because they listen to it, they

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Speaker 3: know it, and when the person trying to flog them

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Speaker 3: an ad doesn't know what they're talking about, all of

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Speaker 3: a sudden, that confidence, that trust has lost. The accountants

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Speaker 3: sometimes by trying to save a little bit of money

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Speaker 3: end up costing him a lot of money. And that's

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Speaker 3: what we've seen in nine Radio.

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Speaker 1: Coming up, Why is nine letting its biggest star start

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Speaker 1: a rival podcast? You revealed in the Media Diary this week,

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Speaker 1: Steve that Nine's biggest star, Karl Stefanovic has created a

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Speaker 1: bit of an exit ramp for himself.

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Speaker 3: Yoday, everyone, It's Karl Sevanovic and this is the Karl

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Speaker 3: Stefanovic Show and my first guest live from a beautiful picture.

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Speaker 2: What is that exit ramp? And how's it going?

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, my phone went into meltdown this week

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Speaker 3: when the news about this broke. So there are a

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Speaker 3: couple of factors at play here. Carl, He's had twenty

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Speaker 3: years on the Today Show. Everyone at nine cannot believe

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Speaker 3: that Karl has been given permission to do his own podcast.

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Speaker 3: People at the highest levels of Nine outside the ones

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Speaker 3: who signed off on this, are going, what the heck

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Speaker 3: are we doing? We've given Carl permission to start his

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Speaker 3: own pod cast called the Carl Stefanovic Show, which they

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Speaker 3: believe is basically what the Today Show has been for

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Speaker 3: the last two decades, and he's doing it in direct

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Speaker 3: competition to his own network. But where's the sense in that?

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Speaker 3: So Carl's saying, you know, I've been held back for

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Speaker 3: two decades on nine. I haven't been able to unleash

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Speaker 3: the beast. He calls it unleashed the beast. Now I'm

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Speaker 3: going to be doing that, and everyone's going to unleash.

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Speaker 3: He's never been prevented from interviewing anyone, and then up

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Speaker 3: pops the first episode surprise surprises Pauline Hanson. I'm not

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Speaker 3: sure about you, Claire. I reckon that the list of

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Speaker 3: people who haven't interviewed Pauline Hanson over the years is

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Speaker 3: shorter than the list of people who have.

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Speaker 1: Also, Carl's trademark is always being raw and authentic and

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Speaker 1: being himself, letting it all hang out? Is it it?

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Speaker 3: That's always been his chard, and that has always been

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Speaker 3: part and pass of the great, the great sixty minute

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Speaker 3: stories he's done, and he's always done that. So to

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Speaker 3: suggest all of a sudden he's going to be doing

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Speaker 3: something different for the first time, this is going to

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Speaker 3: be the real Carl, the Carl you haven't seen drunk.

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Speaker 4: After the Logi's on air.

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Speaker 3: This is going to be the real Carl, you know,

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Speaker 3: making jokes in a slightly what are you talking about?

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Speaker 4: So nobody can wrap the head around it.

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Speaker 3: Of course, what I know, and I'm sure you might

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Speaker 3: have heard rumblings about yourself, is that his time on

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Speaker 3: Today's coming to an end. It's been two decades he's

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Speaker 3: never won. It's time for a changing of the guard.

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Speaker 3: So last year he's contract, which was you know, let's

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Speaker 3: talk and three million odd dollars, was up for a

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Speaker 3: newle and he's taken a massive haircut, and on top

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Speaker 3: of that, they've given him a one year extension. So

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Speaker 3: as part of those conversations, I'm told he said, well,

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Speaker 3: if you're gonna chop my paycheck by by about a

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Speaker 3: third and put me on a one year contract, I

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Speaker 3: want you to let me go and do a side hustle,

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Speaker 3: a separate project. Does it make sense? Not really, because

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Speaker 3: I'm sure if I said to you, look, Claire, I'm

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Speaker 3: going to work four days a week for you, but

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Speaker 3: on the fifth day, I'm going to do the really

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Speaker 3: good interviews and do it for someone else.

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Speaker 4: You can only have one master, so you know, will

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Speaker 4: it work?

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Speaker 3: I would have thought not. Good luck to him. Everyone's

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Speaker 3: entitled to try something. If you're being paid more than

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Speaker 3: two million dollars, maybe try it for your own network.

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Speaker 4: But we will see.

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Speaker 3: Obviously I've been wrong before, not often, but let's see

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Speaker 3: how this one works out.

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Speaker 2: Steve Jackson, thank you very much.

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Speaker 3: Thank you always love Beerron, Claire. I hope we can

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Speaker 3: talk against, so

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Speaker 1: You can check out all Jacko's work anytime at the

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Speaker 1: Australian dot com dot au