Embattled Today hits record ratings low
The move to bring back Karl Stefanovic to save Today has failed to win over viewers, with the embattled breakfast show hitting a record ratings low.
Entertainment
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Nine Network’s embattled breakfast show Today has sunk to a record low in the television ratings, just over two months since Karl Stefanovic returned to hosting duties with new partner Allison Langdon.
Today recorded 155,000 TV viewers across the five metropolitan cities yesterday, its lowest during a TV ratings survey period, The Australian reports.
The show was hammered by its biggest rival, Seven’s Sunrise, which boasted a metro audience of 259,000. However, Today beat ABC’s News Breakfast, which trailed in third spot with 112,000 metro viewers.
Today’s declining metro audience will be a major worry for Nine’s executives, as it sets the tempo for the rest of the day for Channel 9. In stark contrast, Nine’s reality dating show, Married At First Sight, has proved a big hit with viewers Sunday to Wednesday evenings.
The ratings drop comes less than two weeks after Nine’s boss Hugh Marks said Today’s new team is starting to deliver but more work needed to be done around content.
He was tight-lipped on Stefanovic’s long-term future at Nine with his $2m annual contract set to expire in December.
Since Stefanovic and Langdon made their debut as Today’s co-hosts on January 4, the show has fallen below the “magic” 200,000 number more than a dozen times.
During Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight’s brief on-air hosting stint last year, Today dropped six times below 173,000 metro viewers. The pair’s lowest metro audience during the 2019 TV ratings survey was 163,000 on October 30, but their lowest during the entire year was 143,000, albeit on Boxing Day.
The new-look Today show returned to the small screen on January 4 to cover the bushfires, two days earlier than planned.
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The Australian