ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland sends a warning to his breakfast TV show rivals: I want to smash Kochie’s record’

ABC’s Michael Rowland wants to become the next ‘king’ of Australian breakfast TV.

The 55-year-old News Breakfast star said he is out to beat 21-year-old David ‘Kochie’ Koch as host of Seven’s Sunrise.

“I want to break Kochie’s record,” Rowland joked about the recently retired Seven star in a new interview with the industry blog TV tonight .

Rowland has already spent 13 on the bench at News Breakfast and he reckons he’s good for another 9, which will improve Koch’s record.

“I feel probably the fittest I’ve felt in a few years,” says Rowland, who co-hosts News Breakfast with Lisa Millar.

Rowland has already spent 13 on the bench at News Breakfast and he reckons he’s good for another 9, which will improve Koch’s record. Pictured: David Koch, who retired from Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr earlier this year

Rowland shared his challenge on his Instagram (pictured) on Friday

“You have peaks and troughs during crazy hours,” he added.

‘But I love the show. I’ve always told people, ‘This is the best job in broadcast television… I’m so lucky to be in this position. I love it. Watch out Kochie, I’m here for your criminal record.’

Elsewhere in the chat, the popular presenter said the Melbourne-based ABC breakfast show is locked in a ratings battle with Nine’s Today, hosted by Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo.

And News Breakfast has even given the number 1 morning show Sunrise a ratings deficit since its debut in 2008.

“We beat Sunrise once,” Rowland boasted, adding, “Not that they’ll admit it, but we did. But Today and we have been fighting for the number two spot for a number of years now.’

According to OzTam’s numbers, NewsBreakfast toppled Sunrise in May 2022, with one episode winning the esteemed Timesot, but only 2,000 viewers.

ABC News Breakfast is a regular ratings battle with Nine’s Today

Meanwhile, News beat Breakfast Today in the TV ratings in 2019.

Rowland is not shy about letting his commercial rival know about it.

In one week of May 2022, News beat Breakfast Today every day for the first time.

After the ratings were released, Rowland took a look at Today and told TV Tonight, “The result reflects our main difference from the other shows. We don’t have ‘News’ in our title for nothing.’

However, News Breakfast regularly seems to be lagging behind its commercial rivals.

In Thursday’s ratings, the ABC show came in a distant third with 148,000 Metro viewers, while Today scored 203,000.

News Breakfast toppled Sunrise in the ratings once every 13 years. Pictured: Sunrise presents Natalie Barr and Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington

In one week in May 2022 News Breakfast beat every day for the first time ever (Photo: Today co-hosts Karl Stefanovic, left, and Sarah Abo, right)

Sunrise won the Brekky battle in front of 208,000 spectators in the big centers.

Seven’s Sunrise, hosted by Natalie Barr and Matt ‘Shirvo’ Shirvington, regularly wins the number one spot in the breakfast wars.

But the Seven team suffered a shock defeat last week when Today scored a rare metro ratings victory over Sunrise, scoring 195,000 viewers on Wednesday.

Sunrise managed 193,000 fans for the same slot.