Today pressured as ABC revamps

ABC’s revamped breakfast hosting duo is looking to make further inroads against Nine’s embattled Today show.

The new co-host of the ABC’s News Breakfast, Lisa Millar. Picture: Glenn Hunt.

The hotly contested battle for television breakfast viewers is set to ratchet up, as ABC’s revamped hosting duo look to make further inroads against Nine’s embattled Today show.

The ABC’s new co-host of News Breakfast, former foreign correspondent Lisa Millar, hopes to win over a bigger chunk of the early-morning audience, saying the “sky’s the limit”.

News Breakfast briefly overtook Today earlier this year, although Seven’s Sunrise remains entrenched as the nation’s top breakfast show.

Today hosts Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight, who came together following the axing of Karl Stefanovic last December after 14 years, haven't proved popular with viewers, translating into poor ratings, which the ABC has capitalised upon.

Steve Allen, media analyst at Fusion Strategy, believes it is time for Today to make changes, given it has been six months since Knight and Gardner came to­gether.

“Now, I think would be a fair time for them to have a real think about what their future is, and how that future should be made up in terms of program format and who hosts it,” Mr Allen said.

Today had to find a way of “separating themselves” from the competition, he said.

News Breakfast has recorded a metropolitan average audience of 153,000 on ABC’s main and news channel in the year-to-date, steady on last year’s average, according to the ABC, citing figures from OzTam.

On ABC’s main channel, News Breakfast has achieved a metro share of 10.2 per cent year-to-date, up on last year’s average of 9.5 per cent.

In comparison, Today has booked a metro average audience of 197,000, down 17 per cent from last year's average. It has achieved a metro share of 18.5 per cent so far this year, down on last year's average of 20.8 per cent.

Sunrise has a metro average audience of 279,000, representing audience growth of 5 per cent year-on-year.

Millar replaces Virginia Trioli on News Breakfast, joining co-host Michael Rowland on the sofa from August 19.

Hailing from the small country town of Kilkivan about three hours’ drive northwest of Brisbane, ­Millar plans to do more stories about regional Australia.

“I feel since I've returned from overseas that there has been more of a divide between the country and the city, and I've really felt it,’’ she told The Australian.

“I think Gabrielle Chan’s book, Rusted Off, was just a perfect example of what I felt had been going on while I’ve been away.”

Allen, who described Millar as having “enormous journalistic credentials”, believes the focus on the bush will help News Breakfast pick up audiences in regional areas.

Millar has known Rowland for most of her 26 years at the ABC, having worked with her on and off, including a stint in Canberra in 1994-96. “We are great mates. I cannot speak highly enough about him. He is such a class act and I’m excited to be working with him. I think we’re going to be a great team,” she said.

“I think there’s going to be a new energy. He is really excited about me coming on board. I don’t want to sound like Pollyanna but we’re all feeling really buzzy about what the possibilities are.”

Millar said her promotion to a national TV show at the age of 50, the same age as Rowland, shows there is support for experienced journalists.

“I think it’s pretty wild that we’ve progressed enough that at the age of 50 you’re still getting great roles in television in Australia.

Knight and Gardner are 46 and 49, respectively. Sunrise’s Sam ­Armytage is the youngest among the on-air TV breakfast talent, at 42, while David Koch is the oldest at 63.

Millar will be competing against another friend, having known Knight since 1997.

Back then, Millar was working for the ABC in Brisbane and Knight was hosting Landline.

Knight even took Millar to the Australian Open in Melbourne last January, where Today kicked off its new host line-up.

“Deb Knight is a great friend of mine. I think she’s awesome, we’re all kind of around that same age really, which I think is quite interesting about brekky TV.”

Millar will move to Melbourne from Brisbane in August for the new gig, noting it was “definitely a long-term project” after spending 12 years abroad.

She will also continue to work on ABC’s Back Roads, which sees each episode visit a different Australian community.

“It’s part of the deal that I’ll be doing at least two a year.

“I'm not going to be only in the studio.

“Brekky is the absolute priority, and I love it to death. But I think it’s really important to get out and talk to ordinary Australians, and I’m stoked that I’m going to have that chance.”

Millar has already filmed one Back Roads episode in the Flinders Ranges, which will air on July 29, and has been booked to do another in October.