Channel Nine's Today show suffers brutal ratings blow following Karl Stefanovic's exit - as Seven's Sunrise continues ratings blitz

Channel Nine's Today has suffered a massive ratings dip as viewers abandon the show in droves, following Karl Stefanovic's

The grim figures show that the Nine breakfast program attracted only 265,000 earlier this week, well behind its chief competitor, Channel Seven's Sunrise, which scored a much healthier 458,000 viewers.

It is a huge blow for the long-running Channel Nine breakfast show, which currently has veteran reporter as a fill-in co-host alongside Sarah Abo,

In addition to and Matt Shirvington's Sunrise being the ratings winner, Seven's The Morning Show, co-hosted by and , also beat out Today, scoring an impressive 303,000 viewers.

The only morning show Today managed to beat was the ABC's News Breakfast, which scored 210,000 viewers.

Sunrise has consistently outrated Today over the past two years - but with Stefanovic's recent exit from the show the gap has only grown wider.

In August 2024,

However, the latest figures show Seven's program has seen a 16 per cent increase in viewership over the past two years, while Today's has shrunk by almost 20 per cent across the same timeline.

It comes after the flagship Channel Nine program was criticised over how it handled 's exit from the Today show last week following his controversial interview with far-right activist .

Insiders have warned that Nine's 'atrocious' handling of the matter - in which Stefanovic's replacement has still not been announced - has given a huge advantage to one of Today's major competitors, 's Sunrise.

One veteran television insider said it was staggering that Nine had still failed to identify a credible successor. 

'Today’s biggest problem is they’ve had years to come up with a succession plan... and simply haven't done it,' an industry insider told The Sunday Telegraph.

They added that another serious issue is that Nine's list of potential replacements lacked the 'It Factor' to attract viewers. 

'The current crop of contenders to replace Karl are too similar, they’re "of a type"; no one in the Nine stable is an enticing prospect for viewers,' they said.