Read our preview of tomorrow’s INSIDE MAIL, the must-read politics and media column from Daily Mail Australia political editor Peter van Onselen and acclaimed reporter and TV pundit Steve Jackson.
Earlier this month we revealed Samantha Armytage had split from her Southern Highlands horse whisperer husband. Richard Lavenderjust short of its fourth anniversary.
Sam, the human starter, has been at the center of a publicity storm since signing with Nine in September after more than two decades with arch-rival Seven.
And all eyes were on her after she hopped on the Today show on Monday for a two-week stint alongside the meteorologist. Dan Astley while team A, Karl Stefanovic and Sara AboThey are making the most of summer.
Well maybe not all eyes.
According to OzTam ratings, most viewers this week have still been tuning into Sunrise, Armytage’s old stomping ground, where the new kid on the block David Woiwod He has co-hosted with Monique Wright.
Wright is, of course, the Seven stalwart who replaced Armytage on Weekend Sunrise in 2014, when she was promoted to the main show alongside David Koh.
It seems like most people like to have Woiwod and Wright on their TVs during breakfast, and why not? He is a nice guy and she is a total professional.
Everyone may have been talking about Samantha Armytage’s Today show debut on Monday alongside meteorologist Dan Astley… but instead they’ve been watching Sunrise.
The couple is so appealing to viewers that they have been clearing the ratings, winning by 979,000 to Today’s 754,000 in its total national reach on Monday.
Furthermore, the following day the dynamic duo extended their lead and took victory with 980,000 viewers compared to only 749,000.
Yes, despite all the headlines Today has generated since Sam took over, she hasn’t had a significant impact on the ratings. And television is a numbers game.
Still, the real question we were eager to ask (and did) is what Woiwod and Wright’s colleagues at Sunrise think of seeing their old host Armytage on Today.
Well, it turns out… not much.
“It was a disaster, all the publicity and drama they had built up around Sam, and yet people really aren’t that interested,” a well-placed Sunrise source told us.
‘Everyone was talking about Sam being on Today… but no one was watching.
‘Meanwhile, the ratings for Woiwod and Mon have been incredible – it shows that people are ready for something new and fun. Sam is very much yesterday’s hero.
Dynamic duo Monique Wright and David Woiwod have wowed viewers this week
Across the Harbor Bridge and across town, at Nine’s North Sydney headquarters, they opted to read the tea leaves rather than the official numbers – and who could blame them?
“Look, sure, the numbers have been soft… but they’re not ratings and there are already people on holiday, so you don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” one Nine member tried to reassure himself as much as we did.
‘If you’ve been watching this week, you’ll have seen that Sam has a lot of energy and a sense of fun; she certainly lights up the screen and is a star.
‘Obviously the temptation will be to put her with Karl in the new year, but there is no suggestion that we leave out Sarah (Abo), she is very popular with our audience.
“But the feeling is that everyone is happy… it shouldn’t surprise us: Sam has always had very good results.”
“He’s got versatility too – he’s got experience as a journalist and when he was at Seven he did everything from breakfast TV to Today Tonight and Sunday Night – you never know where he’ll end up.”
- The full edition of Inside Mail is published tomorrow, only for Mail+ subscribers