Hugh Marks On Damage Control After Today’s Tepid Ratings

Hugh Marks On Damage Control After Today’s Tepid Ratings

Only five weeks into its relaunch, the Today show is under pressure for another restructure, with the Nine Network program failing to grab viewers.

Many were sceptical about the new lineup featuring co-hosts Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight, and the numbers have not proven promising since its implementation in January: on Monday, 168,000 five-city metro viewers watched, as opposed to 287,000 for Seven’s Sunrise.

The latest figures mark the lowest ratings for the show since 2005.

Chief executive Hugh Marks assures that success is just a matter of time, telling The Australian: “This is a thing that takes many years to establish, a new show, and a new format and a new crew.

“I’m actually really happy with the production values of the show.

“It certainly has achieved the elements that I thought we needed to achieve.

“Chemistry of the presenters always takes a bit longer and we’re going to invest in that”.

The controversial choice to drop Karl Stefanovic and move in a new direction after a 14-year run proved unpopular with pundits, and revelations that Deborah Knight wasn’t the first choice to step into the role certainly didn’t help matters.

It was reported by The Daily Telegraph that ‘closed-door meetings’ were held this week, but Nine’s director of news and current affairs, Darren Wick, echoed Marks’ optimism, saying: “We’re not about to hit the panic button”.




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