Today show hits shock new low as it slumps behind ABC Breakfast in metro ratings

Just when it was thought Today’s ratings couldn’t get any worse the show has been beaten in the category that matters most for TV bosses.

Just when it seemed Today’s ratings couldn’t get any worse the show has slipped to a new low this week, beaten by an outsider in the all important metro ratings.

On Thursday 181,000 viewers in the five city metro markets tuned in to watch ABC News Breakfast across the public broadcaster’s channels, ABC and ABC News.

A metro audience of 119,000 watched the Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli hosted show on ABC, while a further 62,000 tuned in on ABC News.

This meant ABC News Breakfast had 3000 more viewers than the 178,000 that saw Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight on Today.

ABC News Breakfast host Rowland reacted with surprise to the news, tweeting “Holy s**t indeed!” alongside two champagne bottle emoijis in response to a tweet about the result.

Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner. Picture: Alex Coppel

But Nine has refused to accept defeat, challenging the legitimacy of the combined figures.

“According to OzTam, Today attracted more viewers than ABC Breakfast on a five city metro basis on the primary channels,” a spokesman told news.com.au.

“Today had an audience of 178,000 viewers and ABC Breakfast attracted 119,000 viewers respectively on primary channels (Nine and ABC). We don’t simulcast across two channels nor do we add in live streaming figures from 9Now.”

Not in dispute is the gap between the struggling Channel 9 breakfast show and Channel 7 competitor Sunrise. A metro audience of 279,000 tuning in to watch Sam Armytage and David Koch — a staggering difference considering the two shows were once neck-and-neck in the ratings.

The figures are a new low for Today, whose ratings have continued to struggled in 2019 despite the axing of host Karl Stefanovic and a rebranding.

Today was beaten last month in the overall ratings by ABC Breakfast , but still came out on top with metro audiences.

Metro ratings are often considered more important by TV bosses as advertising decisions are usually made based on these numbers alone.

Today’s ratings have continued to struggle since it debuted its new panel to just 197,000 metro viewers in January.

The Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli hosted ABC News Breakfast is growing in popularity. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian

Today’s flagging ratings come despite the dumping of Karl Stefanovic last year. Picture: Channel 9

Numbers dropped to an “embarrassing” new low in February, with only 168,000 metro viewers, a 10 year ratings low for the Today show.

David Knox, from TV Tonight, has previously said 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 in February.

“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.”