The Today show has been hit with embarrassingly low ratings since the reinstatement of Karl Stefanovic in January. But the embattled TV star’s co-host, Allison Langdon has revealed the secret that the pair are using to hit back at critics.
WATCH: Karl Stefanovic unleashes on Millennials in ‘OK Boomer’
Speaking to Sunday Life, Langdon stated that the duo are ignoring negative reviews and are focusing on making the Nine morning show as “fun” as possible for viewers.
‘[Karl] is the first to admit he’d fallen out of love with morning TV and that’s the one thing we agree on – it has to be fun,’ she began, referencing Karl’s shock axing from the show at the end of 2018.
“He’s come back with a renewed passion and the Karl I’m seeing now is positive and engaged. I adore working with him.
“All we can do is make sure we’re putting together the best show we can each morning.”
The 40-year-old went on to explain that she has “made a conscious decision” to focus on the job instead, while ignoring ratings, critics and any other “white noise” distractions.
Last month it was revealed Karl and Allison’s takeover – following Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner’s axing – hasn’t gone down too well with viewers.
Less than two weeks after taking their seats, the show only attracted a viewing audience of 185, 000 in the capital cities. Meanwhile, a whopping 246,000 tuned into Today’s rival program, Sunrise.
In spite of the unexpectedly low ratings, an industry executive told Confidential that Nine producers aren’t panicking yet, insisting “It is going to be a long game” seeing as “the audience isn’t going to break their viewing habit quickly”.
While they aren’t perturbed by the issue, it appears as though Nine got their hopes up too soon, with TV boss Steve Burling admitting last year that he was expecting Karl’s return on January 4 to increase the ratings by 10 per cent.
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