Karl’s unfinished castle gives him one big reason to flog podcast ads

June 26, 2026 — 5:00am

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In this week’s On Background, Karl Stefanovic has one big reason to sell podcast ads, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson goes to the mat for her ARN shares, Aunty embraces AI, and an ex-ABC producer’s unfair dismissal claim spanning 20 years gets short shrift.

Now that Karl Stefanovic is on his way out of Nine, on terms that weren’t clear by Thursday afternoon, he has a lot riding on his new podcast. Top of the list? An enormous knockdown rebuild that is half-finished in a pricey, waterfront suburb on Sydney’s lower north shore.

Plans lodged with the local council show the old brick house is on the way out. In its place will be an architect-designed home about twice the size, replete with the obligatory “basement car parking, swimming pool and associated works”.

One whole room is marked “media storage” on the plans, though presumably it’s an either/or situation. There are walk-in wardrobes aplenty, landscaped gardens, and a wine storage area. And then there’s a spiral staircase that runs from the basement to the top floor. None of this comes cheap.

Stefanovic and his wife, Jasmine, reportedly bought the property for $3.2 million in 2021 and were initially approved for a $4.5 million rebuild. That’s no stress for a man on a Nine salary of around $2.5 million, but how many ads for male supplements – a mainstay of Stefanovic’s culture wars heavy podcast – will he have to sell to keep the builders happy?

Jackie O fights for every penny

There aren’t many people clamouring to buy shares in ARN these days, what with the radio company behind the KIIS and Gold stations landing cleanskin Karl Stefanovic only to run headlong into the Tommy Robinson........

© Brisbane Times