The Seven Network has extended its remarkable dominance of morning television, with Sunrise widening the gap with breakfast show rival Today this week to record its biggest audience of the year.
An analysis of national TV ratings reveals the debut of fill-in Today hosts Samantha Armytage and Mike Willesee Jr. failed to deliver a ratings boost, with thousands of viewers in fact switching off between Monday and Thursday this week.
Buoyed by the Commonwealth Games coverage, Sunrise’s average audience grew throughout the week to hit a year-high of 548,000 on Thursday, with total reach at 1.24 million.
This was 117 per cent higher than Today’s average audience on Thursday, pushing the margin between the two competitors out to a five-year high.
Today’s average fell from 275,000 on Monday, when former Sunrise host Armytage debuted alongside veteran reporter Willesee, to 252,000 on Thursday.
Today’s ratings have taken a hit since the departure of long-time host Karl Stefanovic, with its year-on-year audience down four per cent.
Sunrise is now regularly beating Today in the wake of Stefanovic’s controversial exit, averaging 6 per cent more national viewers. Armytage’s appointment was an attempt to claw back viewers after Today farewelled both Stefanovic and co-host Sarah Abo, who is on maternity leave.
The popular presenter told The Daily Telegraph ahead of her debut this week that she had “nothing to prove” in breakfast TV after her successful career on Sunrise.
“I have done that at the highest levels and done it really well and won the ratings on a big show. And I walked away from that. So would I go back to it? I don’t know, and I would have to think about it,” Armytage said when asked if she would want the gig permanently.
“I would have to think long and hard . . . it is a big job and I know that first hand. Those starts are hard work. There is a lot of attention that comes with that.”
The Daily Mail reported on Friday that Today’s line-up would be shuffled again next week with 60 Minutes reporter Tom Steinfort to replace Willesee as Nine tests out co-host chemistry.
The OzTAM national audience figures revealed both Sunrise and The Morning Show, which follows Sunrise, have increased their lead against rival networks so far this year.
Sunrise — hosted by Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington — has boosted its margin against Today to 43 per cent compared to 29 per cent last year, while The Morning Show averages 50 per cent more viewers than Today Extra, up from 33 per cent in 2025.
Sunrise also enjoyed its biggest streaming win in its history this week, with Thursday’s 78,000 audience beating Today by 25,000.
Southern Cross Media group managing director of television and streaming Angus Ross said the network was in a “sweet spot.”
“At brekkie, the ratings’ margins we are seeing between Sunrise and its competitors are insane. Some mornings over 80 per cent,” he said.
“Morning TV is incredibly healthy for us. Sunrise remains the clear breakfast leader and The Morning Show and Weekend Sunrise are hitting audience numbers we haven’t seen in years.
“And that’s right across the schedule. All our sport numbers are up. Farmer Wants a Wife was up 30 per cent this year. We’re seeing five-year highs across our key tentpole franchises on broadcast, and the streaming numbers are growing beyond anything we’ve seen.
“We feel like we are in a real sweet spot at the moment which is an absolute credit to our incredible content teams across news, sport and entertainment.”
In WA, the Sunrise audience is up 15 per cent year-on-year while Today’s is down two per cent. Today has averaged just 18,200 viewers across WA so far this year, while Sunrise averages 60,000.
The success continues across throughout the week with Weekend Sunrise’s audience in WA 245 per cent bigger than that of Today.
Weekend Sunrise is hosted by Monique Wright and David Woiwod, who filled in for Shirvington on Sunrise this week as the Olympian took part in Seven’s Commonwealth Games coverage.
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