Former Sunrise executive producer Adam Boland says John Howard still hasn't forgiven David Koch for his crass joke on-air about the former Prime Minister's wife in 2004.

Boland, who has released his tell-all memoir Brekky Central, wrote about the morning 10 years ago when Koch retold a viewer's joke of the day, which involved Mr Howard, his wife Janette, Kim Beazley, and a message written in urine in the snow.

He says there was an extreme backlash from the joke, to the point that Seven owner Kerry Stokes forced Koch to write a letter of apology to Mr Howard.

"Sunrise was never afraid to take the piss out of pollies, but David Koch took that to a whole new level in 2004," Boland wrote. "There was hell to pay after he read out one viewer's joke on air.

"To this day, John Howard refuses to talk to Kochie, even when he's seated on the same table at functions. I suspect the joke is only part of the reason.

"The former Prime Minister is only too aware of the role Sunrise played in the rise of Kevin Rudd."

The joke itself was not an original; it usually featured Bill and Hillary Clinton, but Koch could not help himself early one morning.

Koch appeared to realise very quickly the joke might have been insensitive, but he told Fairfax Media in 2006 he didn't mean to "intentionally offend anyone". When asked about the inference of his joke, Koch told Fairfax Media his wife had also relieved herself once while on the snow fields.

"My wife writes her name in the snow," Koch told Fairfax Media in 2006. "They have this thing for skiers - female skiers. It's like a funnel if you are caught way up on the slopes away from anywhere."

After the joke, Natalie Barr, who was filling in for Mellisa Doyle, said to Koch: "Did you vet that with anyone." It was clear he had not. 

Boland said as soon as the joke went to air, he anticipated the thousands of phone calls from outraged Sunrise viewers that morning.

"Kochie had a tendency to offend people from time to time. It was my job to shield him from most of their objections," Boland wrote. "His value to Sunrise depended on him having the freedom to be himself and not needing to walk on eggshells. That's not to say he was given a totally free rein.

"On this occasion, there was little I could do to put out the fire."

Mr Howard and Koch were unavailable for comment.