Today show ratings: Channel 9 breakfast show loses to Sunrise

THE Today show been thrashed again by rival Sunrise. Are breakfast TV viewers turning their backs on Nine’s breakfast show after a rollercoaster couple of years?

THE Today show is suffering a ratings drought with another thrashing by rival Sunrise, according to figures released this morning.

Wednesday’s edition of Nine’s breakfast show hosted by Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner averaged a dismal 212,000 viewers across the five capital cities.

Compare that to the 270,000 that watched Sunrise, hosted by David Koch with Natalie Barr filling in for Samantha Armytage.

Wednesday’s edition of Today featured drought coverage with Stefanovic reporting live from Windy Hill farmstead in Bulgadie near Coonabarabran in northwestern New South Wales.

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Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner.

Nine would be concerned that Today seems to be rapidly shedding viewers in Sydney and Melbourne, where it had been running neck-and-neck with its competitor.

In Sydney, Today averaged 57,000 viewers to Sunrise’s 71,000, with similar numbers in Melbourne seeing Today average 56,000 viewers to Sunrise’s 71,000.

The result is even worse than Tuesday’s, when Today averaged 237,000 to Sunrise’s 268,000.

Tuesday’s result sparked a tweet from former Today presenter Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons that “Today would not have been this low for at least ten years”.

This week’s figures could be a sign that viewers haven’t engaged with Today’s drought coverage despite Nine’s Fighting For Our Farmers Drought Relief Appeal raising more than $2.7 million.

But it might also be a sign of something deeper: that the audience is turning its back on Nine’s breakfast show after a rollercoaster couple of years.

The Sunrise team on a live broadcast. From left, Mark Beretta, Samantha Armytage, David Koch and Natalie Barr. Picture: David Clark

Media analyst Steve Allen believes that Nine will ultimately have to make a change to the Stefanovic/Gardner hosting combo if it wants to reverse the slide.

“(A change of hosts) is going to be forced on them even though they would be reluctant to do it having lost Lisa to Ten,” Allen said.

“(Nine) don’t want to admit failure but I don’t think they’ve got a Plan B (obvious replacement hosts).”

Some experts believe that Today’s falling ratings are the result of an extended run of controversies surrounding Stefanovic.

The 43-year-old has endured a raft of damaging headlines with his messy divorce from former wife Cassandra Thorburn and relationship with Jasmine Yarbrough.

Stefanovic took more heat when he criticised Gardner in a phone call with brother Peter overheard by an Uber driver.

“All of this (Stefanovic controversy) is coming home to roost,” Allen said. “Things build up and if your competitor is stable and giving a good alternative viewers make a new judgment (switch shows).”