Nine veteran Sonia Kruger is reportedly being courted by rival network Seven with the lure of a million dollar-plus a year deal to jump ship.
Reports on the Daily Mail this morning suggest the directive to lure the 54-year-old to the network is coming from none other than Seven’s chief supremo Kerry Stokes who is apparently a “huge fan” of Krugers.
When asked if the rumour had any substance, B&T got the typical “no comment” from a Seven spokesperson this morning.
Interestingly, Kruger began her TV career at Seven in 2004 as host of the debut series of Dancing With The Stars.
At last month’s Upfronts, Seven announced the return of Big Brother as part of its 2020 line-up. It’s most likely Kruger has been courted to front the show.
And, with Seven snaring the broadcast rights to the Tokyo Olympics next July, that would be an added carrot for Kruger to make the switch.
According to an “insider” quoted on the Daily Mail, Kruger is prepared to jump ship to Seven because the network is “prepared to pay far more money than Channel Nine”.
But is Kruger the answer to Seven’s viewer problems?
In August, incumbent CEO Tim Worner was spectacularly shown the door following dire end of year financials and reports he’d failed to bring a younger audience – and the advertisers – to the network. Worner was subsequently replaced by James Warburton.
Clearly, reviving Big Brother is Warburton’s quickest way to attract the under 35s. Yet, it remains to be seen if Kruger (if she were to jump ship ) – despite her sparkly, effervescent on-air personality – can bring the youngsters with her.
Meanwhile, Nine apparently hasn’t given up hope that Kruger will remain in its stable. The Daily Mail reporting it too had tabled an extension to her contract that would see her host The Voice, Today Extra and “any other project as they arise”.
