Network 10’s breakfast news program records one of the lowest ratings in Australian TV history
Network 10’s latest attempt to capture breakfast TV audiences has got off to a shocking start, recording just 44 viewers in Sydney on its second day on air, official figures show.
Network 10’s breakfast news bulletin recorded a dismal 44 viewers in Sydney on just its second day on air last week, making it one of the lowest ever ratings for a program in the nation’s biggest TV market.
The 30-minute program, 10 News First: Breakfast, which airs from Monday to Friday at 8am AEST, not only drew an alarmingly low audience in Sydney, it attracted just 224 viewers in Perth on the same day, figures from official television ratings company OzTAM show.
In its first five days, the program recorded an average of just 17,000 viewers across the five major metropolitan cities, but despite the low ratings in the launch week, a Ten spokeswoman said they were pleased with the results.
“Network 10 is happy with the launch of the 10 News First: Breakfast,” she said.
“It has lifted the 2022 timeslot average by 13 per cent in its first week.”
The news bulletin is produced out of the Sydney studio and led by presenter Lachlan Kennedy from Monday to Wednesdays, while on Thursdays and Fridays it is produced out of Ten’s Melbourne studios and anchored by journalist Natasha Exelby.
The half-hour news bulletin was previously part of Ten’s Studio 10 show.
It was recently rebranded and announced as the network’s new breakfast show, airing content similar to a traditional news bulletin.
The latest move by Ten to try and capture a slice of breakfast TV audiences has pitted it against longstanding programs including Nine’s Today Show, presented by Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon, which last week marked its 40th anniversary.
Seven’s Sunrise program, led by Natalie Barr and David Koch, remains the dominant force in the breakfast TV market, and so far this year has averaged a daily audience of 244,000 viewers across the five major capital cities, compared to Today with an average of 204,000 viewers.
ABC News Breakfast, hosted by Michael Rowland and Lisa Millar, has in 2022 recorded an average audience of 189,000 viewers.
A former TV news executive who did not want to be named, said the breakfast TV market remained “heavily congested” but there was “still room for a program that deals with the news, not the nonsense”.
“It also helps set up news coverage for the rest of the day,” the former executive said.
However, the former executive also said Ten needed to give the program a “good go” despite the poor first week of ratings because it could take years to build up a decent-sized audience.
“What Ten has to do, though, is stick with the program, as it could take several years to find its feet and audience,” the TV industry veteran said. “In the past, Ten has been far from good at doing this.
“It has not supported its news rooms, its programmers have been spooked by negative press, and pulled the carpet on good programs when they needed support, marketing and consistency.”
Ten has already had previous failed attempts at trying to break into the breakfast market.
Back in 2013, the program Wake Up, also co-hosted by Exelby, was axed after just six months.
That program attracted around 30,000 to 40,000 viewers a day – about double what Ten’s latest news breakfast program has been luring since its inception on June 27.
Wake Up had three presenters – Exelby, Natarsha Belling and James Mathison.
Just 16 days after the launch, Exelby was scrapped from the show after it was reported that the chemistry between the trio had failed to work.
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