RADIO COVER-UP! THE FIGHT FOR BEN'S JOB!

KARL’S NEVER BEEN MORE EAGER TO JUMP SHIP TO RADIO

August 31st – that’s the day everything could change for co-workers and good mates, Karl Stefanovic and Ben Fordham.

The date brings in the next round of radio survey results for Nine’s 2GB. And if Ben’s breakfast show numbers slip once again, insiders reckon Karl will be ready to strike!

Despite Today picking up ratings over the last few weeks, insiders claim co-host Karl will “stop at nothing” to save himself from any looming cuts and has quietly been eyeing off Ben’s chair as part of a possible exit strategy from TV.

“What a lot of people don’t know is he’s had an axe to grind with Ben for years – not in a nasty way, but he sees Ben as the picture-perfect package,” explains the source, who adds that Karl has often admired Ben as a “huge mover and shaker in the media industry”.

In June, Ben, 44, took on the unenviable task of replacing the polarising, but popular, Alan Jones. But he hasn’t always proven to be a hit with 2GB listeners.

2GB faces a hard battle as Ben’s ratings slip and Deborah Knight’s contract draws closer to its expiration date.