The Project ratings are down almost 30 per cent compared to last year

Channel 10’s flagship current affairs show The Project is haemorrhaging viewers, losing almost a third of its national audience in 12 months.

Its viewing figures, including metro and regional Australia, are down by 29 per cent compared to this time last year, ratings data shows.

The audience decline coincides with growing criticism of The Project’s left-wing bias and the recent departures of several high-profile hosts, including Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar and Lisa Wilkinson.

Channel 10’s flagship current affairs show The Project is haemorrhaging viewers, losing almost a third of its national audience in 12 months. (Pictured: The Project’s 2023 line-up)

This year, the show relaunched with a new panel comprising Sarah Harris, Sam Taunton, Michael Hing and long-serving anchor Waleed Aly. 

It follows reports Harris is ‘struggling’ with the gruelling weekly commute from Sydney to Melbourne as the talk show’s revamped line-up fails to fire up.

Insiders at Channel 10 told Daily Mail Australia the ‘novelty’ of travelling to Melbourne – where The Project is taped from Sunday to Thursday – is ‘wearing off a bit’ for Harris, a single mum with two young children.

The former Studio 10 host joined The Project after the shock departures of Bickmore, Helliar and Wilkinson at the end of 2022.

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But the new line-up, including comedian Taunton, former Triple J announcer Hing and ex-ABC sports presenter Georgie Tunny, is off to a rocky start.

Its viewing figures, including metro and regional Australians, are down by 29 per cent compared to this time last year, ratings data shows. (Pictured: host Sarah Harris)

Last month, The Project was beaten by Channel 10’s 5pm news bulletin four nights in a row.

The dismal start for the current affairs show has added to internal unrest at Ten after a horror year of falling market share and last week’s defection of Dr Chris Brown to Channel Seven.

There is also speculation his I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! co-host Julia Morris will follow him out the door.

The audience decline coincides with growing criticism of The Project’s left-wing bias and the recent departures of several high-profile hosts. (Pictured: Harris and co-anchor Waleed Aly) 

Ten’s Pyrmont headquarters is abuzz with talk that Harris’s time away from her sons Paul, six, and Harry, four, is ‘taking its toll’.

‘The novelty is wearing off a bit,’ said a network veteran who asked not to be named.

Harris, who separated from her husband Tom Ward in 2021, is believed to have recently re-signed a new, long-term contract with Ten.

Carrie Bickmore (left) confirmed her departure in October while Peter Helliar (right) announced he was leaving in November