REVEALED: Daytime soaps and repeats of obscure shows are now beating Today - with Channel Nine's breakfast program in ratings free-fall since since Karl Stefanovic's sacking
Channel Nine's new-look Today show was smashed by Channel Seven's Sunrise last week, reportedly delivering its 'lowest audience in 10 years'.
And it appears the program is now being surpassed in the ratings by a host of other shows, including The Bold and the Beautiful and repeats of Law And Order: SVU.
According to OzTAM, Today fell below a metro audience of 200,000 on Wednesday - with Sunrise taking the lead by around 60,000 viewers.
Oh, dear! Daytime soaps and repeats of obscure shows are now beating the Today show in the ratings. Pictured: Today's co-anchors Deborah Knight (left) and Georgie Gardner (right)
Kevin Perry, the Media Editor at TV Blackbox, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: 'Yesterday's ratings were the lowest the program achieved in 12 years, which would be extremely concerning for management.'
Since the ratings were released, however, Channel Nine has disputed the 193,000 metro figure.
A Nine spokesperson said: 'The figures reflected in the overnight OzTAM figures are incorrect due to a coding error in Brisbane. OzTAM is updating their data to reflect this, which will show Today rated an average of 210,000.'
Disappointing: According to OzTAM, Today fell below a metro audience of 200,000 on Wednesday - with Sunrise taking the lead by around 60,000 viewers. However, Channel Nine has disputed these figures. Pictured: The Today show's 2019 panel
Pending the correction being made, an OzTAM spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'The ratings we deliver are a preliminary figure that represents the average viewers in a show’s regular timeslot.
'The networks have 24 hours to make corrections to these figures. Often what happens is a show runs over or under [its timeslot], meaning there could be a slight variance in the average amount of viewers during the program.
'Any corrections for the 23rd of January will be released on Friday.'
However, even with the revised figure of 210,000 viewers, the Today show ranked 26th for broadcast shows on Wednesday.
It was beaten by the likes of U.S. soap The Bold and the Beautiful, repeats of Law And Order: SVU and Stop Laughing... This Is Serious, and Channel Seven's coverage of the Big Bash League.
How long can it be allowed to continue? Kevin Perry, the Media Editor at TV Blackbox, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: 'Yesterday's ratings were the lowest the program achieved in 12 years, which would be extremely concerning for management'
How embarrassing! On Wednesday, Today was beaten by the likes of U.S. soap The Bold and the Beautiful (left), repeats of Law And Order: SVU (right) and Stop Laughing... This Is Serious, and Channel Seven's coverage of the Big Bash League
When the new-look Today show debuted on January 14, it drew in a paltry 197,000 metro viewers and was smashed in the ratings by Sunrise.
The current panel consists of entertainment reporter Brooke Boney, sports presenter Tony Jones, newsreader Tom Steinfort, and co-anchors Deborah Knight and Georgie Gardner.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, the poor ratings have executives considering the possibility of another staff shake-up.
A source 'from a rival network' alleged that there is 'already talk [of] the Today panel being reassessed if things do not improve by Easter'.
Continuing their reign! When the new-look Today show debuted on January 14, it drew in just 197,000 metro viewers and was smashed in the ratings by Sunrise. Pictured: Sunrise panel
Karl Stefanovic, who was sacked as Today co-host on December 19 before being replaced by Deborah Knight, was previously caught 'liking' comments on Instagram claiming the show was doomed without him.
One comment he 'liked' read: 'I can’t wait until the ratings drop even lower and they realise it wasn’t you that was the problem after all.'
However, the TV personality denied he endorsed the comments, claiming his Instagram account was hacked while 'out fishing'.
Was he right after all? Karl Stefanovic, who was sacked as Today co-host on December 19, was previously caught 'liking' comments on Instagram claiming the show was doomed without him. He later claimed his account had been hacked
