TVNZ responded to Discovery's claim The AM Show is "consistently beating Breakfast". Photos / Three / TVNZ
TVNZ responded to Discovery's claim The AM Show is "consistently beating Breakfast". Photos / Three / TVNZ
TVNZ has bitten back at claims The AM Show is beating Breakfast in the battle for morning television ratings.
That's despite Discovery's claim viewership was on the rise and The AM Show was "consistently beating Breakfast."
Citing Nielsen's ratings, TVNZ supplied figures to the Herald and challenged The AM Show's dominance - saying Breakfast "consistently has the largest audience."
"While it has been a positive week for The AM Show, looking at both shows from across the year tells a different story," a TVNZ spokesperson says.
The state broadcaster said Breakfast's daily reach is 30 per cent above The AM Show in the key 25-54 age demographic.
TVNZ said Breakfast has won out in viewers 100 per cent of mornings so far in 2021 in the 5+ demographic, and 88 per cent of mornings so far this year in the 25-54 demographic.
TVNZ's Breakfast presenter lineup Indira Stewart, Jenny-May Clarkson, John Campbell and Matty McLean. Photo / TVNZ
According to the Nielsen figures supplied to the Herald, recent figures say Breakfast has reached 330,400 in the 5+ demographic each today.
"This is 81 per cent higher than The AM Show 5+ reach of 183k," the broadcaster added.
Ratings are under scrutiny as all three of The AM Show's original presenting lineup announced their resignations within weeks of each other.
The exodus began when Duncan Garner left the show in August, after hosting since its inception in 2017.
The original AM Show presenters have all resigned within weeks of each other. Photo / Three
Garner, 47, said he had decided to leave the "best job ever" because he was struggling with the "brutal hours".
Yesterday both Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson announced their tenure on the show would be coming to an end at the end of 2021.
Both are staying on at Three for now: Gillies is taking on the role as national correspondent and Richardson will remain the host of The Block NZ as well as continuing to appear on The Project.
The announcement means Ryan Bridge, who recently took over the reins from Garner, remains the only host who will continue on the programme in the new year.
In a release yesterday, Discovery confirmed Gillies and Richardson's departure from The AM Show - and hinted at a potential rebrand for the show.
"Looking ahead to 2022, we have an exciting opportunity to reinvigorate the format of The AM Show," Three's director of news Sarah Bristow said.
She added, "evolving the existing format of the show is a natural progression".
