Sunrise keeps on shining, as the X-factor eludes Today

When 2020 dawned, Sunrise was no sure bet. But at year’s end, the stocks of Seven duo David Koch and Samantha Armytage are higher than ever.

Sunrise’s Samantha Armytage and David Koch remain well ahead of Today’s Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon in the TV breakfast show ratings. Picture: Danny Aarons

When 2020 dawned, Sunrise was no sure bet.

While David Koch and Samantha Armytage had been the undisputed king and queen of breakfast television for several years running, there was a new kid in town. Sort of.

Karl Stefanovic — one-time Nine golden boy-turned wayward was now being touted as the prodigal son, who was returning to the network to elevate Today back to the top of the morning.

Koch and Armytage needn’t have worried. At year’s end, the Seven duo’s stocks are higher than ever.

Sunrise comfortably won the year, attracting an average of 278,000 weekday viewers (a slight increase on its 2019 audience), and still well ahead of Today’s average of 216,000.

Koch and Armytage are one of TV’s most enduring on-air couples, having shared the Sunrise couch since 2013.

Media analyst Peter Cox says the pair’s longevity suggests they have the “X factor” that network executives yearn for.

“Nobody can actually define that X-factor, which makes it so hard to get the right on-screen combinations,” he tells Media. “But no one else can match what the Sunrise hosts have been doing year-in, year-out for so long.”

As for Stefanovic, rarely has a television comeback been as heavily promoted as his return to breakfast television.

But after a full year back in the host’s chair at Nine’s Today, what has the viewing public made of the second coming of Karl?

While Stefanovic and his new on-air partner Allison Langdon got off to a strong start in January, Today’s numbers steadily weakened throughout the year, leaving the show well behind Sunrise.

Nine was quick to point out Today’s audience has increased this year — indeed, earlier this month, the network’s publicity department issued a press release with such boasts as: “TODAY is the #1 breakfast show in South East Queensland in 2020 with a Total People share of 38.5% compared to Sunrise’s 37.5%.”

Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon. Picture: David Geraghty

The show has enjoyed more viewers this year than last year. But that figure is a false dawn for Today. The program’s audience all but vanished in 2019 when the hosts Georgie Gardiner and Deb Knight oversaw a catastrophic plunge in Today’s ratings, with the average number of viewers slipping below the 200,000 mark.

This year, Stefanovic and breakfast newcomer Langdon have only managed to claw back a small fraction of the viewers who abandoned Today last year. To put it in perspective, when Stefanovic last hosted the program, in 2018, the show drew an average audience of 235,000 viewers.

In 2020, with Stefanovic back at the helm after his much-publicised marriage breakdown, Today only attracted 216,000.

For now at least, Stefanovic’s job as Today host seems secure. Ben Willee, general manager and media director of Spinach Advertising, says the 46-year-old’s strength lies in his familiarity.

“He’s like an old pair of jeans — he has been with Nine a long time and viewers are used to him. The network needs to stick with him to allow him the time to win his old audience back,” he says.

 

Sunrise, on the other hand, remains a steady performer The program’s audience has remained steady over the past three years, and it has never been seriously threatened by Today since 2018.

The problem, if there is one, is that ratings figures across all breakfast television programs have flatlined over the past five years. Steve Molk, a viewers advocate from tvblackbox.com.au, says the changing early morning viewing habits are being keenly watched by advertisers.

“For the moment, the advertising revenues are holding up well enough for the breakfast shows, but once that diminishes significantly — and it surely will — then both Nine and Seven will have some tough decisions to make.”