Karl Stefanovic's report card: How his Today return stacked up against Sunrise
Today’s new-look team starring Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon has delivered a strong debut, as they scored a healthy ratings boost for its first weekday show.
The new look panel – which also includes sports reporter Alex Cullen, newsreader Tracy Vo, entertainment reporter Brooke Boney and weather presenter Tim Davies – managed to draw in an average of 226,000 (five city metro) viewers on Monday. Despite still trailing behind Sunrise’s 293,000, it’s still a huge leap for the struggling program.
Last year, when former Today hosts Georgie Gardner and Deb Knight’s first show aired in 2019, it only reached a total of 197,000 people – a 15 per cent gap from yesterday’s number.
The increased number most certainly provided some much needed relief over at Nine Network, but the task of turning around a lengthy run of horror ratings has only just started – and the question remains as to whether the new team can build on that number and become a serious rival for Sunrise once again.
When Gardner and Knight were hosting the show last year, the morning program experienced it’s lowers ratings ever, with its metro audience dipping below 200,000 for the first time. And in what was already turning out to be a disastrous year for Nine, ABC’s News Breakfast attracted more viewers nationally than Today for the first time.
At the beginning of November, Today suffered its lowest ratings for the year, attracting a mere 155,000 viewers from around the country.
But TV Tonight editor David Knox told news.com.au that there’s still a long way to go despite it being “good news” for the network.
“Compared to 2019 first numbers are headed in the right direction. But we should acknowledge Sunrise and News Breakfast were also up, undoubtedly due to the bushfire crisis and continued breaking news,” he said.
“The challenge for Nine will be to build on its base beyond the curiosity factor. In this genre, a honeymoon period can be mercilessly brief but early anecdotal response from viewers would suggest the 2020 team has a better shot at the fight ahead than the previous.”
Stefanovic and Langdon were originally scheduled to make their highly anticipated debut this week, but Nine bosses made the decision to bring it forward to last Saturday, January 4 in light of the ongoing bushfire crisis coverage.