Jennifer Hawkins turn for Seven paycuts

Posted by lena on Sep 5, 2009 in News | 0 comments

Jennifer Hawkins could be the first casualty of the Seven Network’s move to slash the salaries of some key on-air staff.
Following the dramatic pay cuts Nine Network dealt its talent roster last week, The Sunday Telegraph has learned Seven is scrutinising the lucrativesalaries of some of its stars, including Hawkins, Jamie Durie and Grant Denyer.
“All contracts are being looked at … and Jennifer’s contract is a global figure, not a local one,” a Seven source said.
Seven is said to be looking to more than halve Hawkins’ current million-dollar salary.
Her contract expires at the end of November.
In the past year, she has fronted the failed reality series Make Me A Supermodel and continued as a presenter on The Great Outdoors.
It is understood Seven has delivered the former Miss Universe several other reality ventures, but none was “a good fit”, according to the source.Denyer, meanwhile, has seen his star fade since leaving Sunrise to concentrate on prime-time formats such as Australia’s Got Talent and It Takes Two.
“He would be facing a pay cut if wanting to stay, which I believe he wants to,” the source said. “There are not too many jobs in television at the moment.”
Denyer’s future at the network – where he’s rumoured to make $250,000 – looks fragile, with strong suggestion Australia’s Got Talent won’t return in 2010.
While successful, Australia’s Got Talent is extremely expensive to produce.
It follows the decision to “rest” It Takes Two this year.
Hawkins and Durie’s manager, Sean Anderson, denied either of his clients was set to leave the network, with a year to run on the garden guru’s $800,000 contract and Hawkins wanting to remain “loyal”.
“I met (Seven CEO) David (Leckie) to start renegotiations and we had a positive meeting,” Anderson said.
A Seven spokesperson would not be drawn on details of the current negotiations.
“It’s appropriate to consider costs going forward … it’s a regular process for any network,” the spokesperson said.
It was reported last week Nine stalwart Kerri-Anne Kennerley was among several station staff set for a pay-cut as Nine CEO David Gyngell sought to swipe $20 million off the network’s current debt.
Kennerley, who generates a lot of revenue for Nine via her show Mornings with Kerri-Anne, drives a hard bargain and is likely to remain on around $500,000 per year.
Other Nine on-air talent given “haircuts” were said to Shelley Craft, Jules Lund, Tracy Grimshaw, Liz Hayes, Catriona Rowntree, Scott Cam and Tara Brown.
source: dailytelegraph.com.au