26-05-2025
Karl and Sarah's enormous pay gap exposed in Aussie TV Rich List
Today host Karl Stefanovic earns an eye-watering $2 million more per year than co-host Sarah Abo, according to an in-depth report released today.
The Australian 's inaugural TV Rich List collates the 35 highest salaries among TV stars on Australia's three commercial networks, Channel 7, Channel 9 and Network 10.
The list runs from Karl in the top spot with an annual salary of $2.8 million, to stablemate and 60 Minutes reporter Amelia Adams at 35 with $300,000.
And Nine dominates the list with six out of the 10 highest-paid stars, including the all-male top three.
Longtime The Block host Scott Cam is not too far behind Stefanovic with an annual salary of $2.4 million, with Lego Masters host Hamish Blake on $2 million.
The Morning Show host Larry Emdur is Seven's highest-paid star but has to settle for fourth place on the list with his $1.6 million annual salary. His Seven colleague Natalie Barr rounds out the top five, as the highest-paid woman on the list with an annual salary of $1.3 million.
Stefanovic's co-host Sarah Abo sits at number 11 on the Rich List, with an annual salary of $800,00 – a whopping $2 million behind her co-host.
Of course, Stefanovic has been co-host of Today for almost two decades now, whereas Abo only joined him in 2023.
But Stefanovic's pay disparity with his succession of female co-hosts has long been a point of conjecture – it was enough to lead his most famous on-air partner, Lisa Wilkinson, to leave the network in 2017, frustrated over the wide pay gap between them.
The full 35-name list is dominated by personalities from Nine and Seven, with presenters on Ten making just three appearances (Waleed Aly is the network's highest-paid star, on $700,000).
The Australian.
