He was the former weather presenter over at Sunrise, and now Grant Denyer has hit back at the competition as he says the new-look format won’t be able to bring the Today show back from the dead.
The breakfast show, which was previously co-hosted by Karl Stefanovic, introduced their brand new panel yesterday morning.
Karl, who was famously axed from the program, was replaced by Deb Knight who sat next to “partner-in-crime” Georgie Gardner on Monday morning, as she described the feeling like “the first day of school”.
Joining them was newsreader Tom Steinfort who took over Sylvia Jeffreys, sports presenter Tony Jones who replaced Tim Gilbert and Brooke Boney, who is taking over Richard Wilkins’ entertainment role.
When discussing the new panel on his radio show Grant, Ed & Ash yesterday morning, Denyer’s co-host Ash London couldn’t contain her excitement over having two women hosting the show, especially as Karl Stefanovic is “see ya later”.
“But what everyone wants to know is – Grant, do you think this baby’s gonna work? Are they scraping the bottom of the barrel here?” she asked Denyer.
“I don’t think it will,” he said.
“It’s progressive that there’s two female hosts, and what’s clever about that move is that they’ve trumped what Sunrise was about to do. Sunrise’s next move was that they were going to remove the male-and-female combination when Kochie (David Koch) retires – it was going to be two girls.”
But despite the praise, Denyer still has doubts on the new line-up, as he fails to see how it will work.
“What you’ve got to remember is that breakfast TV is entertainment first – it’s bright lights, it’s bright colours, there’s cash cows, there’s money being thrown at you as a viewer … it’s a poker machine, is what it is,” he said.
“So, you’ve now got two very experienced, serious, wonderful interviewers (Deb Knight and Georgie Gardner) – incredible journalists – but you don’t have entertainers.”
London then added: “So they might not sink as low as you need them to get the low-flying fruit salacious?”
“Exactly – and that’s who wins the breakfast TV war. The more colourful you are, the louder you are, the more you win,” responded Denyer.
“When Today show was flying – when it was challenging Sunrise’s 10-year-reign – was when Karl was loose, he was drunk on air, he was mucking around. But now they’re going to flip it and go ‘straighty-one-eighty’ and I don’t think it will work in the breakfast market, because that’s what the ABC is for.”
But before the show went to air, Today’s executive producer Steven Burling was adamant that the show – which is going to focus more on delivering news – will still remain “fun”.
“Today viewers expect our reporters to deliver breaking news from overnight and early morning – but our team will also set the daily agenda; unique stories, exclusive interviews and content that will have people talking throughout the day,” he said.
“These are serious journalists but also fun personalities (and) Australia will love waking up with them in 2019.”
Do you agree with Grant Denyer’s thoughts on the new Today show line-up? Let us know in the comments below.Â
