Today show drops to ‘embarrassing’ new low

Things are going from bad to worse for the Today show with new figures indicating viewers are refusing to give the new line-up a chance.

The Today show has received another slap in the face from viewers, recording its worst ratings in more than 10 years.

Just 168,000 people tuned in yesterday (in the five-city metro markets) to the Channel 9 show hosted by Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight.

In comparison, 287,000 watched Channel 7’s Sunrise yesterday.

BREAKING: @TheTodayShow drops to an embarrassing 168,000 yesterday. @sunriseon7 had 287,000. This is absolutely shocking news. #ratings

— Robert McKnight (@rob_mcknight) February 18, 2019

Yesterday’s ratings are yet another sign viewers aren’t digging the new-look Today show.

Industry insiders were shocked when less than 200,000 people tuned in for the first show with Gardner, Knight, Tom Steinfort, Tony Jones and Brooke Boney at the helm on January 14.

Less than a month later, the ratings dropped even further with just 177,000 people tuning in on February 6.

Grant Denyer spoke about those woeful ratings at the time on his 2Day FM radio show and said they simply weren’t “sustainable”.

“Breakfast is ultimately entertainment,” Denyer said. “There’s two newsreaders (Knight and Gardner) that are now anchors. Newsreaders aren’t entertainers. They deliver facts.

“To dip below 200,000 is not sustainable. You can’t continue like that because it won’t be profitable. You can try and stick it out ... but the damage that’s been done by Karl (Stefanovic) is so significant that I don’t think that they can recover from that.”

The cast of Channel 9's Today show for 2019.

David Knox, from TV Tonight, agreed Nine had an uphill battle on its hands but refused to say the show couldn’t recover.

“Breakfast TV is notoriously habitual, and it would be easier to turn around the QEII than an underperforming show,” Mr Knox told news.com.au.

“Viewers are rusted on and do not like change. That said, Nine had to respond to a year of poor figures and bad headlines.

“The rapport between Georgie and Deb is good, and Tom’s strength lays in live news reportage. Some viewers have questioned whether Richard Wilkins actually left the show, why Tony Jones is not sitting alongside the team and why Steve Jacobs isn’t on the road more for weather.

“There is still room to tweak but Nine has to hold its nerve,” Mr Knox said.

Nine’s director of morning television, Steve Burling, also spoke to news.com.au after the poor figures from February 6 and remained upbeat.

“It’s very early days and rating figures will continue to fluctuate, but I’m absolutely thrilled with the dynamic between Georgie, Deb, Tom and the entire on-air team,” he said. “And, I’m confident that the audience will be turning to us in the weeks and months ahead.”

Can Today’s ratings recover?