Watch out, Kochie! The Today show WINS on the east coast in the ratings war – narrowing the gap with Sunrise
After years spent trawling behind in the ratings, Nine’s Today show is finally catching up to Seven’s Sunrise.
This week, the once-struggling breakfast program fronted by Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon, won on the east coast.
Today beat Sunrise by 195,000 to 181,000 in total people, across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Watch out, Kochie! The Today show WON on the east coast in the ratings war this week, narrowing the gap with Sunrise. Pictured: Today co-hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon
Sunrise, hosted by Samantha Armytage and David ‘Kochie’ Koch, is still however the nation’s most-watched breakfast TV program across the five capital cities, with a viewership of 259,000 compared to Today’s 229,000.
Nine’s news boss Darren Wick told TV Blackbox on Saturday of the improvement in the ratings: ‘We’ve got a good team behind the scenes and on air.
‘These guys are working together nailing big stories and having fun.’
A week earlier, Today had claimed victory in the east coast capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, pulling a combined average audience of 191,000 – which was more than Sunrise’s 189,000.
Impressive: Today beat Sunrise by 195,000 to 181,000 in total people, across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
These figures represent a triumphant leap in the ratings for Today, which had previously dragged around 70,000 viewers behind Sunrise back in June.
Speaking to investors last week, Channel Nine’s CEO, Hugh Marks, commented on Today’s progress over the past nine months.
‘If you look at morning segments, Today show numbers are up around 10 or 15 per cent year on year and continuing to grow. Karl and Ally are doing a good job there for us,’ Marks said.
Still top spot: Sunrise, hosted by Samantha Armytage and David ‘Kochie’ Koch (pictured), is still however the nation’s most-watched breakfast TV program across the five capital cities, with a viewership of 259,000 compared to Today’s 229,000
Narrowing the gap: These figures represent a triumphant leap in the ratings for Today, which had previously dragged around 70,000 viewers behind Sunrise back in June. David is pictured with co-host Samantha Armytage
Karl is understood to have recently signed a new contract with Nine, and Allison and the rest of the team are also locked in multi-year deals.
Today’s growing popularity coincides with Karl’s renewed focus on his job, after he admitted last year that his performance wasn’t great in 2018, when ratings were falling at a rapid rate and his personal life was dominating headlines.
He said at the time: ‘Towards the end of last year, I was cooked. It had taken its toll, a lot of the [media] attention – all the unwarranted attention I thought, and you can’t control any of that.
‘I’m not going to complain too much about that, but what it meant was that in a work capacity I don’t believe for a second I was at my best. I think I was struggling towards the end of last year.’
Praise: Speaking to investors last week, Channel Nine’s CEO, Hugh Marks, commented on Today’s progress over the past nine months: Karl and Ally are doing a good job there for us’