Georgie Gardner has left the TODAY show as Channel 9 confirms ALLISON LANGDON and KARL STEFANOVIC will front the program in 2020.
It’s been a tough year for TODAY since the new team of Georgie Gardner, Deb Knight and Tom Steinfort launched on January 14. The media has been buzzing for weeks that Nine was about to pull up stumps on the current team as ratings continued to fall.
Last week things hit breaking point when on Wednesday the show hit a low 163,000 viewers. By Friday things had gotten worse when the show slipped to an all-time low of 155,000.
There was no doubt things had to change.
Viewers simply hadn’t taken to the show without former host Karl Stefanovic who had been dumped in late 2018. A lack of on-screen chemistry was evident despite the fact all three presenters have excelled in their various reporting and presenting roles.
According to Darren Wick, Nine’s Director of News, the audience weren’t ready for Nine’s bold experiment;
“We took a bold decision to try something new with two women hosting the today show this year and regrettably that has not worked for the audience. We respect and value the enormous effort made by the team particularly Georgie and Deb throughout the year. Today we are announcing the new hosts, Allison Langdon and Karl Stefanovic. The whole the team will remain with Nine and the full line up of the Today Show in 2020 will be announced in due course.”
READ MORE: Karl, Ali and a complete format change – TODAY 2020
For her part, Gardner has proven herself as a solo newsreader and helped Nine News Sydney maintain its ratings dominance during her time as the Friday/Saturday reader. Gardner is a superb newsreader, but her style doesn’t seem to connect with viewers in a team environment at breakfast
Gardner will not return to the program, she has left immediately. TV Blackbox understands Knight and Steinfort will continue hosting the show for the remainder of the year.
Speaking with 9 Honey, Gardner says changes have been in the works for at least a couple of weeks;
“I was consulted two weeks ago about the future direction of the Today Show, and naturally I’m disappointed with the outcome,”
“However I’m very proud to have been part of an innovative and progressive programming decision – the first female hosting duo in Australian breakfast television.”
She also talked about the headlines that come with the job;
“It was a privilege to work on the Today Show for nine years, I learned a lot. I have no regrets, even though the scrutiny and public discourse has been daunting and disproportionate. It’s also at times been cruel,”
Knight also currently reads the weekend news, after replacing Gardner in the role, but executives have been impressed with Knight’s performance on radio and there is talk her future could reside there now the company owns Macquarie Radio.
Steinfort could end up back at 60 Minutes or become TODAY’s sports presenter. There’s no doubt he has a big future at Nine and executives are determining how to build up his experience for his next big gig.
Sports presenter Tony Jones will return to Melbourne news full time but continue with the show until he goes on planned leave in the coming weeks.
Speaking to Nine’s own newspapers Stefanovic had nothing for praise for the team he is replacing;
“My colleagues have been through an extremely difficult time dealing with outside forces and I know that better than anyone. It is hard enough to be across the story briefs up early every day without those storms from outside impacting you. I know what great journalists they are, how professional and how hard they work, and I admire them both.”
TV Blackbox understands Nine will spend the next few months working out what TODAY will look like in 2020. Executive Producer Steve Burling has been entrusted to evolve the show beyond its current format to play to the strengths of the new team.
Burling was given the unenviable task of trying to make a team thrown together work, despite an obvious lack of chemistry. The removal of Stefanovic came suddenly and led to a domino effect which saw the removal of Sylvia Jeffries, Tim Gilbert and Peter Stefanovic.
The defection of Lisa Wilkinson is seen as the starting point of TODAY’s problems and there is some validation in that thought. Nine’s biggest mistake was pairing Stefanovic with Gardner. The two were never the best of friends and have very different personalities. It was a pairing destined for failure.
Now that Nine has bitten the bullet and reinstated Stefanovic network bosses will be hoping viewers return. The best thing Nine could do is give him the best chance of succeeding by evolving the format and content of the show, otherwise it is destined to decline after the initial ratings boost.
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There was a time when morning television belonged to children certainly in my day – Here’s Humphrey, Fat Cat and Friends, Romper room, Cheez Tv – cartoons. It’s time that morning news breakfast television is giving the flick and given back to the kids like it used to be.
Back in those days we didn’t have the extra channels. ABC, Nine and Ten all have kids programming on their secondary channels.
The Today show went downhill when the got rid of Casharoo. I hope to see a return in 2020. They need more on air credibility.
I HAVE BEEEN WTACHING TODAY SINCE LATESD LAST YEAR AM LOOKING FIRWARD TI KAR;’S RETURN WITH ALISON LANGDON