Axed Studio 10 producer ‘reveals eye-watering salaries of TV’s top stars’

For four years, Robert McKnight worked as the Executive Producer for Channel Ten’s hit morning show Studio 10, before being allegedly “unceremoniously sacked” by the network in November last year.

However the former employee, who at the time claimed he was told that his “services were no longer needed”, has now claimed that the sums taken home by some of the biggest names in breakfast television are well into seven figures, as well as uncovering his own enviable six-figure salary.

He divulged the information during his brand new podcast, TV Blackbox,  the first episode of which was released online on Tuesday, and openly confessed to earning a cool $220,000 per year for his part in the show, according to the Daily Mail.

If that figure wasn’t already enough though, he later bagged a $100,000 bonus, hiking his salary up to $320,000 inclusive of superannuation. Talking about the increase, the Daily Mail claim McKnight joked: “The CEO said, ‘go and pay off your house’.”

However his earnings are small fry compared to the rumoured figures taken home by the network’s biggest stars, which McKnight confirmed are more than likely 100 per cent accurate.

Read more: Denise Drysdale, 69, confirms break from Studio 10 over gruelling schedule.

Ep 1 of my TV podcast is live. Regrets, I have a few! We cover meeting Dolly Parton, What TV Execs get paid & The Future of Television plus plenty more insights. https://t.co/84nqIY3HS4

— Robert McKnight (@rob_mcknight) August 14, 2018

Read more: Lisa Wilkinson’s big payday has Carrie Bickmore furious: Reports.

When pushed on what top presenters, including the likes of Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, could be earning, McKnight hinted that the millions of dollars rumoured in the press are perhaps more accurate than people might think. He added: “You know what I was on, so you can expect they were in the ballpark. Don’t forget breakfast and morning TV have the potential to make good money. Breakfast TV is reaching more people than prime time.”

Read more: Ita Buttrose quits ‘Studio 10’ to spend more time with grandchildren.

The comments come 10 months after Lisa Wilkinson’s salary at Nine was splashed all over the newspapers after she sensationally quit the Today show last October.

The 57-year-old Australian TV personality and journalist of more than 36 years, announced her resignation on Twitter, effective immediately, and according to reports, Nine offered Wilkinson $1.8 million a year, a $700,000 increase from her $1.1 million salary but $500,000 less than the $2.3 million she had asked for.

Starts at 60 have contacted Network Ten for comment.

What do you think? Are these huge salaries warranted, or extortionate?