Is there any hope for Today?

If they give us more of the same they don’t stand a chance of beating Sunrise. My experience as a TV exec tells me that without Karl, Nine are facing an uphill battle writes Rob McKnight.

The Today show is dead.

At least, the show we currently wake up to each morning will never be the same again.

After a year of negative press, executive producer Mark Calvert is gone and so is the face of the show, Karl Stefanovic.

Karl was the driving force of the show. The whole thing was built around his humour, his on-the-road reporting and his ego. Just ask Lisa Wilkinson, whose role in the success of Today should never be underestimated. While she might not have been the driving force, Lisa knew how to play second fiddle while getting the best out of her co-host.

There were strains of course. Lisa famously walked out during an episode of the show after a disagreement with Karl, eventually left and was replaced by Georgie Gardner.

Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson during happy times on Today. Picture: Instagram

Georgie and Karl were never going to work as a team. While both are nice people, they simply do not gel — they are fire and ice.

And if viewers couldn’t tell Georgie and Karl didn’t get along just by watching, their sour relationship was laid bare for all to see in the infamous Ubergate scandal.

The negative headlines kept coming, media writers could smell blood in the water and they were relentless.

RELATED: Why Karl Stefanovic had to go

It’s been widely reported Today’s ratings have been tanking and it’s true the show has faced its lowest viewing figures in 12 years, but the network has claimed a win via press release in the all-important east coast — a claim which Seven disputes.

So, had viewers turned off Karl or was it all just perception in the media bubble?

It’s probably a bit of both, but it’s done now and the mammoth task of rebuilding the show will soon begin in earnest.

Things never quite recovered for Today’s co-hosts Georgie Gardner and Karl Stefanovic after Ubergate. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

At this stage, the only person who seems safe is Gardner. Sylvia Jeffries is likely to be moved

off the show, despite denials from Nine. Their statement in support of Karl’s sister-in-law mentioned her future at Nine, but made no mention of her future at Today (sometimes it’s the details they leave out that give the game away).

Richard Wilkins is likely to be moved to Today Extra, and there are insiders saying he will be replaced by entertainment reporter Peter Ford. I asked Ford about this in my podcast TV Blackbox and he was very, very cagey.

RELATED: Stefanovics’ exit could be the start of a Today avalanche

That just leaves Tim Gilbert and the overriding opinion is he won’t last either (although it should be noted he’s done a commendable job in the role).

Richard Wilkins’ future at the show hangs in the balance. Picture: Tim Pascoe

So what does the future hold? With former A Current Affair executive producer Steve Burling taking over, the show will have a steady pair of hands guiding the ship but the big decisions will be made by news boss Darren Wick.

“Wickie” has the credentials to get the show back on track. Before running the newsroom he was also the executive producer of A Current Affair and in a former life he ran the Today show. He knows how it works and what needs to change to make it work.

By all accounts it appears Brenton Ragless will replace Karl. Ragless, the current summer fill-in, was seen at the Willoughby offices of Channel 9 late yesterday afternoon; highly strange activity for someone starting at 4am.

Is current summer host Brenton Ragless set to replace Karl?

There has been chatter about a dual female co-hosting team, potentially Georgie Gardner and Sarah Harris. This would copy the format of the Today show in the US and has proved very successful.

But are Nine willing to stray from the accepted formula?

Considering they’ve blown up the show, they have nothing to lose at this point. If they give us more of the same they don’t stand a chance of beating Sunrise. If they start thinking out of the box they might just rise like the Phoenix.

Rob McKnight is a former TV executive and is current co-host of the TV Blackbox podcast.

@rob_mcknight