Sunrise boss hits out at Today show
Sunrise boss Michael Pell has taken a swipe at Channel 9’s management.
In an interview with news.com.au, the executive producer of the Channel 7 breakfast program criticised the Today show for its excessive line-up changes over the past few years.
“I’m quite surprised at how all of that’s gone down with that show,” Pell said.
“Not to talk too much about them, but I’ve never seen that many people sacked that quickly for no apparent reason.”
The ratings gap between Today and Sunrise has narrowed since Nine brought back Karl Stefanovic in the new year. Sunrise drew 266,000 metro viewers on Tuesday morning while Today followed with 220,000. Nationally, Sunrise pulled in 467,000 viewers and Today 318,000.
Pell said the high turnover of hosts was the reason why Today was still trailing behind.
“I think the audience is punishing them for that still,” Pell said.
“The audience doesn’t like a company that treats people badly.
“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.”
Pell said Sunrise has topped the breakfast TV market for the past 15 years not only due to its consistency, but also its originality.
“We’re not the copiers,” he said. “Other people have done the copying over the years.
“We actually do like to set the standard. We are the market leaders for a reason, and I mean that with humility and respect to the audience. We like to work from our own template and then often you’ll find other people borrowing from that.”
Sunrise co-host David “Kochie” Koch said while he clashes with fellow presenter Sam Armytage at times, they always settle their arguments.
“We have the art that’s been lost, particularly with social media, of agreeing to disagree,” Koch told news.com.au. “We never take it personally.”
Today debuted their new lineup on January 4, with Stefanovic and Allison Langdon at the helm.
A Nine source told The New Daily the ratings increase following the Today show’s line-up revamp was “a decent bump”.
“We’re all pleased with how the show is looking. Good chemistry between the cast,” the source said.
“It will be a long slog to make up the deficit. If we can claw back 10 per cent or so this year, it will be a good result.”