SUNRISE AND TODAY

are Today, and especially Sunrise, shedding viewers? That is what Channels 9 and Seven would be asking as they look at the ratings for their breakfast shows.

A year ago, Sunrise, with David Koch and Samantha Armytage, was averaging 325,000 viewers across the five capital cities.

But that figure has been slowly whittling away ever since. Recently, Seven’s show has averaged around 287,000.

Last week was especially bad for Sunrise in Sydney. One day, Sunrise averaged a mere 68,000 viewers in the harbour city compared to 91,000 for its rival.

And Sunrise doesn’t seem to be dominating in Adelaide or Perth any more. The battle there is neck and neck.

Koch has always been a polarising figure. The ratings spike that Seven got when it replaced Melissa Doyle with Armytage in 2013 is long gone. In January,