Channel 9 furious over Brooke Boney question as speculation grows about her future on Today
Don’t mention Brooke Boney. Sydney Confidential recently found itself on the receiving end of a snarling response to a query about the future of the Today show entertainment reporter.
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Karl ‘shocked’ by Nine’s Today U-turn
- Revealed: Karl Stefanovic’s $1m ‘image’ gamble
- Karl back at Today despite proof of a ratings win
It has been a disastrous year for Channel 9.
One year after axing Karl Stefanovic from the Today show, the network sensationally backflipped and recently announced he will now return to the embattled show as co-host alongside Allison Langdon.
The pair will replace Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight in 2020, after the first female duo consistently suffered abysmal ratings.
The strain was apparent when Gardner said she is “disappointed” with the outcome and left immediately, now the growing tension seems to have spilt over to the network’s publicity department.
As speculation grows over how the latest shake-up will affect the remaining Today show panel, Veteran publicist Victoria Buchan was unhappy when asked about the future of Brooke Boney.
“You don’t read do you??? We have said all today show team will stay with nine and we are not saying any more about the specific shows until we are ready to. We are making no further comment,” Buchan told Confidential.
It is unclear whether former Triple J newsreader Boney, who replaced Richard Wilkins as entertainment reporter this year, will stay in the same role.
Boney became the first Indigenous person to join a commercial breakfast TV show when she joined Today.
Nine unveiled its new-look Today show panel in January which included Gardner, Knight, Boney, Tom Steinfort and Tony Jones and the gamble has not paid off for the network.
Viewers criticised everything from their “lack of chemistry” to the “boring” content and ratings consistently dropped to a historic low.
During its debut earlier this year, the Today show pulled in a paltry 197,000 metro viewers while its rival Sunrise on Channel 7 had 266,000 viewers.
Last week, ratings were down 17.9 per cent with just 196,000 viewers tuning into Today while Sunrise was up 3.5 per cent with 276,000 viewers.
Nine has finally conceded that the revamped Today show was a ratings disaster for the network.
“We took a bold decision to try something new with two women hosting the Today Show this year and regrettably that has not worked for the audience,” Nine’s news director Darren Wick said.
He added that Gardner is a “person of great integrity who has given everything for the past two years in hosting one of the most demanding and high-profile shows on television”.