Today to rise at 5:30am
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
The breakfast war will step up a notch from tomorrow, with news that Nine’s Today show will now begin from 5:30am.
Clearly a move to counter-attack Seven’s Sunrise, it follows an experiment in the Brisbane market where the show aired from 5:00am to 8:30am because of daylight saving.
Karl Stefanovic said, “We’ve had huge success in Brisbane by being on air earlier.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Australians who start their day before six o’clock, and they too want local news, sport and weather – not an American show that’s eight hours old. We’re going to give them that local service.”
Press Release:
Delivering three and a half hours of all the very latest news, sport, entertainment and weather each day, this landmark decision emphasises TODAY’S commitment to keeping viewers up to date with news as it happens.
“This is just another example of TODAY leading the way in breakfast television,” TODAY’S executive producer, Tom Malone, said.
“The early risers will be getting their best local news, sport, weather and finance from TODAY at 5.30am, instead of having to wait until 6.00am.”
The move follows the success TODAY has had over summer in Brisbane, where Nine has broadcast live into the city throughout daylight saving, from 5.00am to 8.30am each weekday, and not on a one-hour delay.
TODAY has made significant gains in the city across the 5.30am-6.00am half-hour through summer, with figures indicating a 38 per cent increase, compared to the results of the corresponding weeks in the summer of 2006-07.
TODAY co-host Karl Stefanovic said: “We’ve had huge success in Brisbane by being on air earlier.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Australians who start their day before six o’clock, and they too want local news, sport and weather – not an American show that’s eight hours old. We’re going to give them that local service.”
TODAY was first with the decision to go live into Queensland through summer, and co-host Lisa Wilkinson said: “The top-rating breakfast radio programs start at 5.30am, and we think TODAY should too.
“Brisbane’s early rising viewers have embraced our earlier start, and we know Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth will do the same. We know this is the right thing to do.”
TODAY has made significant gains on Sunrise in the past year. Across the five capital cities, in the 25-54 demographic TODAY is up 26.6 per cent, while Sunrise is down 1.3 per cent. In ALL People TODAY is up 6.7 per cent, while Sunrise is down 0.6 per cent.
13 Responses
Moving the ‘Sunday’ progrm from 9am to the ungodly hour of 7.30am worked really well, didn’t it? Not.
Turns out Today in QLD this morning started at 5:30am. The one hour delay is back (for a week).
Evan :-<
dnp52 – oh, not at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can’t stand AutomaKarl and the whole “Today” package makes me nauseous.
The quality difference I was mentioning was the other way around. The US morning shows cream our local copies in quality terms and in actual news and event coverage.
what will happen with tonight’s Eve, Guthy Renker and Good Morning America sunday edition.
One of them will have to go to fit Today in!!
“This is just another example of TODAY leading the way in breakfast television,” TODAY’S executive producer, Tom Malone, said.
What have they done to be leading the way in breakfast television apart from this? I’m going to gues that there talking about the boning of the ticker which was copied from sunrise which lead the way in having the ticker in the first place. There again he was probably talking about starting early in Queensland granted it was a risky idea but not exactly leading the way. Apart from those two I really can’t think of how they are leading the way I suppose they do have the state-based local news on the hour oh nope thats sunrise, weather segment weather focus oh wait thats sunrise. I say good on Today for trying something new even though it may not work but hey Nine has proved that it’s pretty good at gymnastics they have balls and can certainly backflip.
Oh, they’re programming the robot Stefenovanator 3000 to awaken from his sleep cycle a little early now. That’s really going to make me want to get up at the ungodly hour of 5:30am.
I think they also need a new set and a graphic change. I like Sunrise becuase of the bright colours and nice set. It would be nice for a few changes like this. I know the ratings won’t increase if they get a new set but it would be a change from that cramped little dull studio.
What? Three hours of drivel, passing off as news isn’t enough?
Sounds like you think the TODAY show and Karl in particular are entertaining Neon Kitty? Yikes..
Smart move by Nine. Today has increased by 11% since last year and initiatives like this by Nine will see it eventually overtake Sunrise or at least equal it!
Yeah, those sure-to-die-of-heart-failure-by-40 early-riser stress-cases probably DO want their news, sport, weather and inexplicably regular but strangely generic finance reports on time instead of on one of the tape-delayed US morning shows. But then, they probably also have been noticing the sharp quality contrast between the US morning shows and ours. And maybe Nine would like that difference to be a tad less noticeable 🙂
As for Karl Stefanovic… well, hope they’re paying him even more for now having to completely nuke whatever social life he might have had to be in by 8pm 🙂
In other words, “Dammit, we are still losing to ‘Sunrise'”
David, Daylight Saving hasn’t finished yet though. Therefore Today in Queensland would be four hours long rather than three and a half for the next week! It is Nine’s experiment within a experiment. The reason? Sunrise has only one way to go now. Backwards to catch up with Today!
Do not be surprised if Today is “Live from 5” nationwide by the end of 2008. Sunrise is time-confined because of The Morning Show using the same studio, where as Kerri-Anne tapes in a seperate studio, allowing Today to go as long as they want (with up to two hours more in the West!)