Seven’s Sunrise breakfast TV ratings domination only strengthened in 2019 following rival Today host Karl Stefanovic‘s shock axing.
And it appears the return of Karl may have Sunrise executive producer, Michael Pell, feeling the heat.
The TV producer has been seen getting snappy on Twitter defending Sunrise’s success as Today closes in on Seven’s ratings lead in metro cities.
Feeling the heat? Sunrise producer Michael Pell gets snappy on Twitter defending the breakfast show as rival Today closes in on its ratings lead (Pictured: Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Allison ‘Alli’ Langdon)
As of Wednesday, Today had secured more viewers than Sunrise along the combined East Coast capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for the second day running.
On Wednesday, Today secured an incredible gain on Sunrise with only 16,000 viewers separating them in the five-city metro ratings.
The gap was the smallest the two programs have had since Today host Karl fronted Nine’s program more than one year earlier.
It was also a minor, but no less insignificant, jump from its previous 1000 viewer lead on Tuesday in the five-city metro ratings.
In Karl’s first three weekdays back on Today, Nine decreased their gap between rival Sunrise by 52,000 viewers in the metro ratings, while Sunrise lost 42,000 viewers.
The minor wins for Nine could signal the beginning of the end for Sunrise’s 15-year ratings domination.
Closing the gap! As of Wednesday, Today had secured more viewers than Sunrise along the combined East Coast capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for the second day running
‘It’s not an attack’: Sunrise’s Michael Pell (pictured with Sunrise host Samantha Armytage) has proved he is definitely not going down without a fight
However, Sunrise’s Michael Pell, who has a fierce reputation in the industry, is definitely not going down without a fight.
Pell was seen interacting on Twitter with TV Blackbox editor, and former Channel 10 producer, Rob McKnight, on Wednesday after he shared his take on Pell going on ‘the PR offensive’ against Nine.
McKnight wrote: ‘Interesting to see with @TheTodayShow winning the east coast yesterday @sunriseon7 is going on the PR offensive.’
Pell snapped back: ‘Well that theory doesn’t hold because the interview was done yesterday morning. I didn’t see you trumpet an all-market @sunriseon7 win for Monday.’
McKnight held his ground, adding that he had always been vocal about Sunrise dominant viewership and didn’t appreciate being ‘attacked’.
Pell’s comments on Nine’s Today show, however, should be taken with a grain of salt.
Not only is Today starting to snap at Sunrise’s heels in the ratings again, but News Corp has a vested interest in running negative coverage about Nine.
That’s because the network is a commercial rival of News Corp following the Nine-Fairfax merger, which saw the broadcaster take ownership of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.
The News Corp journo who wrote the original article, Andrew Bucklow, also weighed in on Twitter: ‘I would like to add that I asked for this interview and the Sunrise team were gracious enough to answer all my questions, even the few about Today. There’s more to come from my chat with them in the following days.’
‘ I didn’t see you trumpet an all-market Sunrise win for Monday’: Pell (pictured above between Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch), who been fiercly defending Seven on Twitter after an article was shared about his ‘PR offensive’ tactics
Back in the game! Nine is hoping that returning host Karl Stefanovic’s cheeky sense of humour and unpredictability will bring its audience back in 2020
Meanwhile, Nine is hoping that returning host Karl Stefanovic’s cheeky sense of humour and unpredictability will bring its audience back in 2020.
The ratings suffered greatly with Deborah Knight and Georgie Gardner as co-anchors last year, reaching unprecedented lows.
In early March 2019, the Nine breakfast show attracted just 167,000 viewers across the five capital cities, which at the time marked its lowest audience since 2006.
Axed: The ratings for Today suffered greatly with Deborah Knight (left) and Georgie Gardner (right) as co-anchors last year. In March 2019 they recorded their lowest audience since 2006