Source : the age
When Nine finally severed ties in late June with the golden goose that was Today show host Karl Stefanovic, the TV network solved one problem, but also exposed another issue that affects both the broadcaster and its biggest rival, Seven.
Neither network has any major new talent to promote, particularly when it comes to breakfast TV, a demanding role that requires presenters to give much of themselves to their audience. And while it is understood that Nine has been putting steps in place to replace Stefanovic ever since he notified management a few months ago that he wanted to leave, no decisions have been made.
Historically, Nine has recruited largely from within, so it would be unlikely that any outsiders would take Stefanovic’s seat, but in a world in which audiences and advertisers are seeking fresh faces across other platforms, such as social media and podcasts, Nine and Seven have much to consider when it comes to refreshing their ranks of talent.
You only have to look at last month’s Logie nominations to see that Nine and Seven are struggling for new faces: Nine didn’t land a single nominee in the best new talent category (which was named after one of its biggest stars, TV legend Graham Kennedy). Meanwhile, the only Seven “personality” nominated in the new talent category was Stuart Broad, the 40-year-old former English cricket captain who went viral for his despair during his stint in Seven’s Ashes commentary box. The difference is especially stark when you consider the majority of other nominees, all of whom came from the ABC and Paramount+, are from diverse and Indigenous backgrounds.
If you look at both networks, particularly in the breakfast TV and morning show space, you will see a sea of rusted-on personalities and stars: Natalie Barr, Larry Emdur, Kylie Gillies, David Campbell and Richard Wilkins, to name a few. The ABC, meanwhile, has completely refreshed its News Breakfast crew in recent years, with long-standing hosts stepping down and a younger and more diverse team stepping up.
It’s not just an Australian TV problem, either. In the US, major networks such as CBS and NBC all have long-standing breakfast and morning TV hosts, with Kelly Ripa, who hosts ABC’s morning show Live with Kelly and Mark, holding the Guinness World Record for her 25-year stint. While over in the UK, Scottish presenter Lorraine Kelly has been hanging on for more than 40 years.
If anything, it proves how audiences – and advertisers – like stability and comfort, but what happens when networks get too comfortable? Well, you only have to look at Today to find out.
For 20 years the network largely stuck with Stefanovic – who was last week removed from Nine in the aftermath of his interview with far-right figure Tommy Robinson – confident his brand of blokiness would eventually help Today beat its arch-rival Sunrise. To its credit, Today has recruited new talent with broader appeal – current co-host Sarah Abo, who was moved over from 60 Minutes, sports reporter Danika Mason and now-departed entertainment reporter Brooke Boney – but relied heavily on their Gold Logie-winning golden boy to keep audiences tuning in.
And while Stefanovic kept ratings reasonably stable, with Today averaging about 319,000 viewers in 2025, he wasn’t bringing in new viewers, as Today was routinely beaten by Sunrise. Since Stefanovic’s departure, Today has shed even more viewers, with only 268,000 tuning in on Wednesday, which shows the audience is looking elsewhere.
They could be looking at Sunrise, which this time last year was averaging about 413,000 viewers and increased to 454,000 viewers this week, or they could be turning to ABC News Breakfast, which has been hovering – give or take a few thousand – around 200,000 all week. (The reality, though, is that this week, everyone has been watching the FIFA World Cup, with SBS drawing in more than a million viewers for most games.)
And while I can hear you screaming “Who watches free-to-air-TV?” – yes, I read the comments – plenty of people do. About 13 million Australians watch TV each day (that’s a combined total of free-to-air and broadcast video on demand, aka BVOD), and when big stories break, we like to watch local news sources.
The breakfast TV ratings in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre are a good example, with nearly 600,000 viewers (nationally) tuning into Sunrise, while almost 500,000 chose Today. Over on News Breakfast it was just over 350,000. They tuned in because they wanted local news delivered by trusted local presenters, which you are not going to get on any of the streaming services.
So, yes, there is an audience there, but are they seeing themselves, and their communities, reflected on screen? And if they are not seeing themselves – in terms of age, race, gender, ethnicity and ability – why would they stick around?
When we looked at who could potentially replace Stefanovic on Today, it was a line-up of white dudes, all aged over 40: Tom Steinfort, James Bracey, Joel Dry, David Campbell, Michael Atkinson and David Woiwod. They are the type of faces (and personalities) that have dominated our screens for years, so the problem for Nine is why would any viewer, who liked that sort of thing, make the switch from Sunrise back to Today when they are just going to be served the same thing?
The answer is, they won’t. People are busy, they don’t like change, and breakfast TV audiences generally only stick around for about 15 minutes, which is not a lot of time to capture people’s attention.
If Nine wants to find new viewers, it probably has two choices: lean heavily into news (and attempt to recapture the glory days of Steve Liebmann and Tracy Grimshaw in the 1980s and ’90s) or rejig the program entirely, and find new presenters who will connect and attract a broader audience and expand the show’s off-platform reach.
Seven will also face this problem eventually: Barr has been on Sunrise for 23 years, and when she goes, viewers won’t stick around just for her co-host Matt Shirvington.
The other major issue for Nine is revenue. Breakfast TV is traditionally a big money raiser, and with Nine reporting a steep drop in broadcast revenue earlier this year, amid a struggling advertising market, clawing that back will be a top priority.
The answer for commercial TV networks, as in life, is to adapt or die. To see the rewards new talent can bring, Seven and Nine only have to look – very unexpectedly – to Network 10, which has been having great success with news entertainment show The Cheap Seats on Tuesday nights.
When it was launched in 2021, its hosts – Kiwi comedian Melanie Bracewell and podcaster Tim McDonald – were not household names and had only appeared a few times together on Ten’s comedy panel show Have You Been Paying Attention? Now, 250 episodes later, The Cheap Seats regularly cracks more than 500,000 viewers, and is regularly the No.1 show for the key demographics of 50s, 25-54s and 16-39s.
I get that it is a comedy show, and it’s only broadcast once a week, but the point is that Network 10, and the show’s producers Working Dog, tried something new in a risk-averse environment and it worked. They gave it time to grow and the audience responded. Sometimes it’s worth taking that leap, especially given Nine needs an audience to keep waking up with Today.
Nine was contacted for comment.
*Nine is the owner of this masthead.
Want more TV? We’ve got you.
- Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the shows she recommends watching right now (below).
