Nine backs new Today line-up of Georgie Gardner and Deb Knight in face of collapsing ratings
Hugh Marks weighs in on Today’s ratings woes, saying it will take “many years to establish” the new line-up after Karl Stefanovic’s removal.
Nine Entertainment boss Hugh Marks has backed the broadcaster’s revamped breakfast show Today, despite poor ratings since last month’s launch with co-hosts Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight, saying it will take “many years to establish”.
“This is a thing that takes many years to establish, a new show, and a new format and a new crew,’’ Mr Marks told The Australian after Nine director of news and current affairs Darren Wick this morning released an extraordinary statement defending the show’s all-female line-up following the axing of Karl Stefanovic in December.
“I’m actually really happy with the production values of the show, it certainly has achieved the elements that I thought we needed to achieve.
“Chemistry of the presenters always takes a bit longer and we’re going to invest in that.
“We’re certainly not going to react to noise in the market, I think the team is doing an outstanding job, and I thought some of the commentary today was frankly unfactual and disgraceful,” Mr Marks said, referring to a story in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
On Monday, only 168,000 five-city metro viewers tuned in to Today against Seven Network’s Sunrise, which attracted 287,000 viewers.
“I don’t shy away from the weaker numbers the Today Show has recorded in 2019,” Wick said in a statement.
“But just five weeks into a new team on air, we’re not about to hit the panic button. We’ve been through this battle before with other programs, where a section of the media is quick to write us off. We’re in for the long haul.”
Wick’s statement came after The Daily Telegraph reported today that internal focus group research found Gardner was perceived by viewers as “cold’’ and an “ice maiden’’.
Wick disputed the report saying Nine hadn’t yet commissioned any focus groups for Today in 2019 and accused the newspaper of “one of the most deliberate acts of bullying I’ve ever seen’’.
He said the broadcaster held a number of focus groups throughout the last six months of 2018, under his supervision, and “the feedback from those viewers was overwhelmingly positive about Georgie Gardner.”
“She rated head and shoulders above every other on-air presenter. And that’s consistent with all Today show focus groups we’ve held during the last seven years, while I’ve been in the national news director role,” he said.
New Today executive producer Steve Burling said morale of the new-look team was “fantastic’’ despite the ratings challenge.
“There are no plans to change the Today line-up,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
Asked if he regretted sacking Stefanovic as a co-host from Today, Mr Marks said he is “fantastic broadcaster.”
“I’d always love him to be a long-term part of this business, but it was certainly I think time for him to leave that mix of the Today show.”
Stefanovic, who is the host of Nine’s This Time Next Year reality show, will be a “big part” of the broadcaster’s future schedule.
“He’s a fantastic broadcaster, he really is. I mean people underestimate his skills,” Mr Marks said.
Stefanovic’s contract with Nine runs until the end of 2020.
Nine Network is owned by Nine Entertainment, which recently merged with Fairfax Media.
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