It took three tumultuous years, a dozen line-up changes and one sensational back flip – but the Today show are once again the darlings of breakfast TV.
The pairing of Karl Stefanovic and Alison Langdon – the show’s third partnership in as many years – have started September in an unfamiliar position: on top.
Through the first eight days of September, Today has had more east coast viewers than Sunrise (they never have and never will win in Perth) and are killing it in Brisbane.
It’s called chemistry! It took three tumultuous years, a dozen lineup changes and one sensational back flip – but the Today show are once again the darlings of breakfast TV
On Monday, they delivered their closest five city metro result since Lisa Wilkinson (remember her?) was Karl’s co-host in 2017 – trailing in overall viewership by just 8,000.
Flashback to the same Monday in May, and that gap was a whopping 94,000 people.
So what sparked Today’s spectacular turnaround? Karl? Ali?
Why don’t we ask Sunrise Executive Producer Michael Pell, who infamously threw fuel on the breakfast TV fire back in January.
The pairing of Karl Stefanovic and Alison Langdon – the show’s third co-host lineup in as many years – have started September in an unfamiliar position: on top (on the east coast at least)
What year is it? On Monday, they delivered their closest five city metro result since Lisa Wilkinson (remember her?) was Karl’s co-host in 2017 – trailing in overall viewership by just 8,000
‘When you watch the show (Sunrise) you feel warm and happy, and doesn’t the world need a bit of that right now?’ he explained to news.com.au of Sunrise’s dominance.
‘On our side of the fence, there’s been very little change in what we’ve done for many years and I think people appreciate that.’
And yet Sunrise has failed to heed its own advice this year, handing David Koch and Samantha Armytage four-day work weeks and frequent one-off absences.
When the highly-paid duo are together, they occasionally appear frosty and disconnected. Debates turn into arguments on a weekly basis.
So what sparked Today’s turnaround? Why don’t we just ask Sunrise Executive Producer Michael Pell (pictured centre) who threw fuel on the fire back in January: ‘When you watch the show (Sunrise) you feel warm and happy, and doesn’t the world need a bit of that right now?’
‘On our side of the fence, there’s been very little change in what we’ve done for many years and I think people appreciate that’. And yet Sunrise has failed to heed its own advice this year, handing David and Samantha four-day work weeks and frequent one-off absences
‘I feel like I never see Kochie and Sam together anymore, even though they do three days together. Karl and Ally, on the other hand, are always there delivering the news and fun,’ industry expert Rob McKnight told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Karl and Ally have proven to have great chemistry and the show has been quietly evolving to the point where it’s pretty compelling TV in the morning.
‘There’s no doubt the TODAY show is back in the game, and that would have Channel 7 very worried, the Ben Rob & Robbo Show host added.
The news with a twist! ‘I feel like I never see Kochie and Sam together anymore, even though they do three days together. Karl and Ally, on the other hand, are always there delivering the news and fun,’ industry expert Rob McKnight told Daily Mail Australia
The history of the ‘Morning TV Wars’
The golden girl: Channel Nine’s breakfast show has been playing catch-up in the ‘Morning Wars’ ever since Karl Stefanovic’s long term co-host Lisa Wilkinson left over a pay dispute in 2017, never to be heard from again
A touch of frost: She was replaced by Georgie Gardner, who had clashed with Karl frequently in the past. The lifeless pair delivered the program’s worst ratings year in a decade
Channel Nine’s breakfast show has been playing catch-up in the ‘Morning Wars’ ever since Karl Stefanovic’s long term co-host Lisa Wilkinson left over a pay dispute in 2017, never to be heard from again.
She was replaced by Georgie Gardner, who had clashed with Karl frequently in the past. The lifeless pair delivered the program’s worst ratings year in a decade.
The network ultimately blamed Karl’s highly publicised marriage breakdown and subsequent romance with much younger model Jasmine Yarbrough. At the end of 2018, Channel Nine’s $2million man was out.
The network ultimately blamed Karl’s highly publicised marriage breakdown and subsequent romance with much younger model Jasmine Yarbrough. At the end of 2018, Channel Nine’s $2million man was out
In 2019, veteran news broadcaster Deborah Knight was brought in to form the first ever all-female breakfast duo in Australian history. The ratings sunk even further.
Today had gone from being neck-and-neck to dead in the water in the space of three years.
In a sensational backflip to begin 2020, Channel Nine re-hired Karl and paired him with beloved and charismatic news reporter Alison Langdon.
Sunk cost fallacy: In 2019, veteran news broadcaster Deborah Knight was brought in to form the first ever all-female breakfast duo in Australian history. The ratings sunk even further. Today had gone from being neck-and-neck to dead in the water in the space of three years
The pair’s on-screen chemistry is palpable – and the numbers are starting to reflect it.
‘Karl and Ally have proven to have great chemistry and the show has been quietly evolving in the background to the point where it’s pretty compelling tv in the morning,’ said industry expert Rob McKnight
In a sensational backflip to begin 2020, Channel Nine re-hired Karl and paired him with beloved and charismatic news reporter Alison Langdon. The pair’s on-screen chemistry is palpable – and the numbers are starting to reflect it
‘Karl and Ally have proven to have great chemistry and the show has been quietly evolving in the background to the point where it’s pretty compelling tv in the morning,’ said industry expert Rob McKnigh
The West Coast problem
In fact, the only reason Today hasn’t amassed an insurmountable lead in 2020 has nothing to do with Karl or Ally. This is a west coast problem. For a variety of reasons, Channel Nine news programming has never been popular in Perth (or Adelaide for that matter)
In fact, the only reason Today hasn’t amassed an insurmountable lead in 2020 has nothing to do with Karl or Ally. This is a west coast problem.
For a variety of reasons, Channel Nine news programming has never been popular in Perth (or Adelaide for that matter).
Viewership numbers for the nightly news show that Ally and Karl are doing a much better job of bridging the insurmountable gap than their counterparts at 4pm.
Not happy! Viewership numbers for the nightly news show that Ally and Karl are doing a much better job of bridging the insurmountable gap than their counterparts at 4pm
Take Monday for example: Seven News won in overall viewership (1.1M total viewers to 1M for Nine) but lost the east coast – trailing in Sydney by 14,000 viewers, in Melbourne by 60,000 and Brisbane by 20,000.
In Adelaide, Seven News smashed Nine by 69,000 viewers and in Perth by 106,000 (166,000 to 60,000 viewers – or 64%)
Sunrise beat Today by 30,000 viewers in Perth on Monday (52,000 to 22,000 – 58%)
Take Monday for example: In Adelaide, Seven News smashed Nine by 69,000 viewers and in Perth by 106,000 (166,000 to 60,000 viewers – or 64%) Sunrise beat Today by 30,000 viewers in Perth on Monday (52,000 to 22,000 – 58%)