TV's breakfast war: John Campbell's instant impact for TVNZ

John Campbell has taken the place of Jack Tame on TVNZ's Breakfast. Photo / TVNZ

Beloved broadcaster John Campbell surprised many by giving up his roving reporter role to fill the Breakfast chair vacated by Jack Tame last week. It's the latest in musical chairs at the state broadcaster, which now features two prominent ex-Newshub presenters in star roles: Campbell, and Hilary Barry, on Seven Sharp. The ratings figures reveal Campbell has had an instant impact, writes Head of Entertainment Joanna Hunkin.

He's just four days into his new Breakfast role, but ratings for the start of the week suggest Kiwis are keen to start their day with John Campbell.

On Tuesday, 90,000 Kiwis (aged 5+) sat down to have breakfast with Campbell and co-host Hayley Holt - up from 84,000 the previous day.

In the key commercial demographic of 25-54, Campbell pulled in 35,000 viewers. That's well above Breakfast's average audience to date this year, which is sitting at 26,000 viewers aged 25-54.

By comparison, The AM Show - hosted by Duncan Garner, Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies - saw 21,000 viewers tune in on Tuesday. Their average audience for the year to date is 24,000 viewers.

Campbell replaced Jack Tame as Breakfast co-host this week, as Tame made a career pivot to more serious news, hosting TVNZ's weekly political series Q+A.

Breakfast and The AM Show have been locked in a fierce ratings battle for the past two years, with The AM Show gaining serious ground on TVNZ.

The morning news programmes are neck and neck when it comes to average audience age 25-54, with Breakfast averaging 26,000 viewers, to The AM Show's 24,000.

The AM Show, presented by Duncan Garner, news anchor Amanda Gillies and sports presenter Mark Richardson. Photo / Supplied

However, early indications suggest Campbell could move that dial, already delivering above average audience numbers.

Campbell has been carefully finding his footing in TV, following his shock departure from Campbell Live in 2015, after the show was put through a review process and eventually axed despite a huge swell of public support and outcry.

At that point, Campbell - who had served an impressive 24 years at MediaWorks - left the company and moved to Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint in 2016.

John Campbell meets supporters who marched up to TV3 with a signed petition to save Campbell Live. Photo / Brett Phibbs

He made the move to TVNZ last year as a roving reporter/presenter across all of TVNZ's news and current affairs products.

Just ahead of his shift to Breakfast, Campbell made an indelible mark on TVNZ when he co-presented the Christchurch mosque shooting coverage with fellow former-Mediaworks presenter Hilary Barry.

Herald critic Anna Murray said together, the pair "barely faltered" as they "comforted the nation" with eloquence and "genuine emotion and compassion".