With the cameras first rolling on June 28th, 1982, Nine‘s Today has spent this week celebrating the show’s 40th birthday.
A lot has changed since Australia’s longest running breakfast news program first went to air, however as the saying goes: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Mediaweek spoke to host Karl Stefanovic about memory lane, what his favourite stories to cover have been, and what comes next for Today.
Keeping viewers coming back is a big task, and keeping them coming back for four decades even more so.
“It’s always been the place you go to when you first wake up in the morning to find out what’s going on,” says Stefanovic. “It’s a one stop shop for news, current affairs, entertainment, sport – all the things that really drive Australia. Even in the last couple of years with the advent of social media, it’s still got big numbers and a huge influence in the marketplace. For advertisers, it’s key having viewers for those hours.
Having replaced Steve Liebmann as Today co-host in 2005, Stefanovic first found himself sitting at the desk next to Tracy Grimshaw.
“She is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best broadcasters this country has ever produced. I was 30 when I took over from Liebo – that’s too young in anyone’s language to be hosting a national show, but it was quite the education, and she was just brilliant to work with. I was able to learn so much from her that year before she went to ACA.”
Tracy Grimshaw and Karl Stefanovic
Having had a front row seat to the evolution of the Today Show over the years, Stefanovic says that one of the biggest changes has been the way that news is covered.
“The news was much more paramount. Breakfast TV has always been a rich tapestry, but I think back then it was more news-focused and we had a lot more news content. It’s very different now, because there are things that make news that wouldn’t have made it before – and social media is a huge part of that. It doesn’t mean we’re doing anything too dramatically different, but the sources of content have changed a lot.
“The fundamentals of breakfast TV are still the same: what’s the story? Who are the real people and faces? Who does it affect? Those fundamentals haven’t really changed, it’s just the way that we tell it.”
Having covered natural disasters, recessions, and all manner of major global events, the Today Show can now add ‘pandemic’ to the list of events it has stood by Australians for. Stefanovic says that walking the tightrope between keeping people informed and taking their minds off the difficulties of lockdown was not easy.
“It was without a shadow of a doubt, the most difficult period that I’ve ever broadcast the show. That was due to a variety of factors, not least of all the difference in opinions and the difference in approaches to handling the pandemic by state Premiers who, for the first time, became the real superstars of news. No one really knew they had that much power, did they?
“It was a very vulnerable time for a lot of people, so to get the combination of opinion, news, and information right was very difficult. I like to think that we, for the most part, did that well.”
The Today team: Tim Davies, Karl Stefanovic, Allison Langdon, Alex Cullen, Brooke Boney
Things weren’t any easier behind the scenes during lockdowns for the Today crew.
“On some occasions, we were down to six staff for a three-and-a-half hour show together. We were grateful to have been able to get through and get our show to air some days – we learned a lot from it.
“We were really all in it together, and I think breakfast TV exposed that. It was a real privilege to do.”
Of all the years that Stefanovic has been involved with the show, he says there is one in particular that will always stick out in his memory.
“For me, 2011 was a big stand-out. That year started with the Brisbane floods in my hometown, which were incredibly difficult to cover. Then we had a tsunami in Japan that I went and covered – I’ve never seen anything like that. I remember going into a little fishing village near Sendai, and the whole town was gone apart from the hospital that had a container ship balancing on it like a seesaw. Then we came back and Christchurch had an earthquake.”
Outside of the major global news stories, the highlights of Stefanovic’s time on Today have been born from ordinary people in extraordinary moments.
“There’s the guy who busted a plugger when he was making a citizen’s arrest. There’s the guy that arrested someone with only his undies on in Brisbane, because they drove into his local fish and chip shop. They’re the yarns that I love – I love Australia, and I love uniquely Australian stories. I’ve had the fortune and privilege to present plenty of those over the years.
“It’s the only job in the world where you go from the Prime Minister to the Logies or the Oscars, and you’ve got to shift gears with equal panache, and tap dance your way through it. That’s why it is the most difficult job, I think, on television, and why it’s the most rewarding if you get it right. If you don’t, it can be incredibly embarrassing!”
Allison Langdon and Karl Stefanovic
With 40 years down, the Today Show is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Looking ahead, Stefanovic says that the biggest challenge will come from changes in technology.
“The way that people are consuming our show, people are still going to consume it, but it might be in a different way. A lot more people are going to be doing it on their phones, so what we have to do is be nimble enough to present the show in different ways, on different media platforms, whilst not losing the essence of what we are.
“There’s a huge audience out there on their phones that we’ll be tapping into and concentrating on as part of our overall audience. For advertisers, that’s a gift. I don’t think there’s anything else out there in that time slot that can do the same.
“I think there’s a huge future for breakfast TV, and we just have to be able to move with the way that people are consuming.”