Today could get another shake-up if ratings don’t improve by Easter

It was a week that Channel 9 would rather forget. Now the full extent of Today’s nightmare first outing in 2019 can be revealed and it appears that not only did viewers switch off the new team in droves, the show lost ground made up on rival Sunrise when axed sports reporter Tim Gilbert was hosting.

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It was a week that Channel 9 would rather forget.

But now the full extent of Today’s nightmare first outing in 2019 can be revealed and it appears that not only did viewers switch off the new team of Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner in droves, the show lost ground made up on rival Sunrise when axed sports reporter Tim Gilbert was hosting.

In a comprehensive ratings breakdown obtained by Sunday Confidential, the debut by Knight and Gardner pulled a five-city metro average of just 211,000 viewers — a mammoth 61,000 less than Sunrise on Seven.

Sports reporter Tim Gilbert had closed the gap to Sunrise’s ratings before he was axed from the Today show.

Viewers and fans of Today are not impressed with the new line-up.

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Interestingly, Today’s performance the previous week — when the show was helmed by Gilbert just before he vacated his post for Melburnian Tony Jones — saw an average of 207,000 but trailed Sunrise by just 39,000.

Meanwhile their week-one average was also way down on the same week from last year when Gardner made her first appearance as host alongside Karl Stefanovic.

That week saw Today draw a weekly average of 239,000.

While they trailed Sunrise significantly (by about 20,000 viewers) it was still a much more robust figure than their disappointing start to this year which, Nine insiders say, has network bosses “genuinely concerned”.

Channel 7’s Sunrise has consistently beaten Today at the ratings. Picture: Simon Bullard

“They had two things working for them — all the press and the noise of a relaunch,” said a Nine source. “Plus they had the tennis prime time figures which should have been feeding into the next morning. But that didn’t translate into any kind of boost.

“Also (Nine) expected a big curiosity factor with an all-new team. However that didn’t materialise at all. In fact, it was DOA (dead on arrival).”

On top of their tumultuous week, it’s understood Nine executives are also concerned at the number of leaks within their ranks — a result of having a number of disenfranchised employees still on the payroll.

A Nine insider revealed the panel could be reassessed if ratings don’t improve by Easter.

“There are a few too many people within the network who actually want this to fail. And that’s a terrible position for Nine to be in.”

A source from a rival network claims there is already talk that the Today panel will be reassessed if things do not improve by Easter.

“They’re a long way from the 350,000 Burlo (executive producer Steve Burling) promised before the new team went to air,” they said.

A Nine spokeswoman declined to comment on last week’s figures however said the suggestion of a review by Easter is “not true”.