Inside Nine’s radical Today show overhaul as a Melbourne move is being considered amid ratings battle and Karl Stefanovic’s axing

Karl Stefanovic’s Today show inner circle is facing a nervous wait as Channel Nine weighs a dramatic overhaul that could see fan favourites Richard Wilkins and Danika Mason shown the door.

As the network scrambles to fill the void left by Stefanovic’s axing, insiders have revealed a top-secret plan that would see the Today show relocate to Melbourne as part of a sweeping reboot aimed at reviving the struggling breakfast franchise.

According to news.com.au, the proposal would see the Today show rebuilt around Syrian-born Sarah Abo – who grew up in Melbourne –  when a major relaunch gets underway in 2027.

But the Melbourne relocation proposal is not a new idea.

It was first floated by legendary former Nine boss Sam Chisholm more than two decades ago, approximately one year after Stefanovic’s rocky debut as a Today show host.

Now, it’s understood the proposal is once again being seriously considered as anxious Nine executives leave no stone unturned in their bid to revive the fortunes of Australia’s longest-running breakfast TV program.

Insiders say that the dramatic shift may trigger a staff reshuffle for those in front of and behind the camera.

Among those understood to be under review is veteran entertainment editor Richard Wilkins, a Today show fixture for decades and one of Stefanovic’s closest on-air allies.

Sports presenter Danika Mason is also said to be facing an uncertain future under the proposed overhaul.

However, Mason may have already mapped out her own exit strategy after revealing last week that she is expecting her first child with ex-NRL player and fiancé Liam Knight.

‘Because of Nine’s inability to address this inequality, this talent imbalance, it has ended up with a program with one dominant personality surrounded by a support cast of beta personalities,’ a TV executive told news.com.au.

‘All of the cast, including Abo, will need to be re-marketed, repositioned, as a result. Only then can Nine hope to make inroads against Sunrise. It’s got a big job ahead.’

Insiders also suggest it’s a rare window of opportunity to tear up the existing format and reinvent the Today show from the ground up – with viewers abandoning the show in growing numbers and heavily pregnant co-host Sarah Abo preparing to step away on maternity leave within weeks.

The once-dominant program now finds itself marooned in second place behind Seven’s seemingly unstoppable Sunrise, with the ratings gap widening dramatically.

As of last month, Sunrise was pulling in 456,000 viewers nationally – more than double the Today show’s audience of 226,000 viewers.

Supporters of a Melbourne relocation argue the move would do more than simply breathe fresh life into the struggling franchise.

They believe it would help carve out a distinct identity for Today in the post-Stefanovic era, distancing the program from its biggest rival, Sunrise, which is also broadcast from Sydney.

Stefanovic abruptly resigned from the network after his interview with far-right figure Tommy Robinson, which he uploaded to his podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, to YouTube, only to delete it hours later after facing backlash.

In a statement to The Daily Mail, Channel Nine said that Stefanovic could not continue working at the network while also hosting his podcast.

The TV star, who has been a Nine stalwart for some 25 years, had six months and over $1million left to be paid on his 12-month contract. 

Stefanovic and Nine are believed to have agreed to an undisclosed six-figure settlement as part of his termination package.

As for Abo, she has never had a bad word to say about Karl, at least not publicly, with no suggestion she ever leaked or briefed against him during their four years on Today – a display of loyalty that is vanishingly rare in the TV industry.

‘Sarah has done what few women in breakfast television have managed to do, which is to create a real rapport and genuine chemistry with Karl,’ said a well-placed source.

‘They are absolutely close friends. Through all their early mornings at the desk together, he had a front-row seat to her fertility struggles and the pain of her miscarriages, and she was one of his biggest supporters and sounding boards.

‘They trusted each other. So for him to go down this path of platforming anti-immigration influencers – when she herself is a first-generation immigrant – right at a time she’s about to have a baby feels like a slap in the face to Sarah, their friendship.’