Breakfast was an Australian breakfast television program which aired live on Network Ten on weekdays, as well as a weekly highlights program on Saturday at 11:00 am. It had a format consisting of news, sport and weather updates every half-hour from 6:00 am to 8:00 am with a mixture of debate, current affairs and regular segments in between. The show originally ran from 6:00 am–9:00 am on weekdays preceding The Circle before being shortened to a two-and-a-half-hour show, as part of the Mornings on Ten lineup. The presenting line-up consisted of Paul Henry and Kathryn Robinson, along with broadcast meteorologist Magdalena Roze who presented weather updates, while News & Sport updates were presented by various Network Ten journalists. Before being made redundant at Ten, Deborah Knight participated in Breakfast's audition.
The show differed from other breakfast shows by being mostly unscripted, replacing Ten's previous line-up of Ten Early News and children's programming including Toasted TV, Totally Wild, Scope and Wurrawhy. This was Network Ten's second foray into the breakfast television market, with the network airing Australia's first breakfast program, Good Morning Australia, from 1981 to 1992.
Although the show was originally planned for a 27 February 2012 starting date, due to the political crisis Breakfast began on 23 February 2012. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, and following the axing of The Circle, Breakfast adjusted its format. On 12 November 2012, it was announced that Breakfast would broadcast its 202nd and final show, on 30 November 2012.
History It was announced on 17 August 2011. that Network Ten would launch a new breakfast program to take on Today and Sunrise, which take in $100 million in advertising revenue a year, compared to Ten's current $3 million. It was also announced that the program would be modelled around Ten's current affairs/comedy program The Project with Andrew Rochford as one of the presenters. In the months to follow, it was announced that the other presenters would include Paul Henry, Kathryn Robinson, Magdalena Roze and Reuben Mourad.
It was initially speculated that Breakfast would launch on 16 January 2012, the date that The Circle debuted in the 9 am timeslot, however that date was later pushed back to March 2012 due to the fact that a third co-host was at the time yet to be found. The launch date was then set to be 27 February 2012, two weeks after the ratings season began. However, on 22 February 2012, Network Ten announced the show would launch early on Thursday 23 February 2012 due to a political crisis. Breakfast'''s first broadcast was extended until around 10:20 am. Paul Henry opened the first Breakfast with these words: "It is Thursday the 23rd February and it is game on". He was referring to the leadership showdown dominating the headlines at the time, as well as Ten's ambitious move to enter into the crowded Breakfast TV market.
On 15 August 2012, Ten announced the following Saturday it would launch a highlights program titled The Breakfast Week to air Saturdays from 11 am-12 pm.
On 12 November 2012, it was announced that Breakfast would end on 30 November 2012. The axing was part of the network's wider budget cuts which saw more than 100 staff lose their jobs from various Ten News roles. A newspaper said other staff at the network resented Henry, claiming many wouldn't look at him when he walked in the room, and were planning to boycott the Christmas party. Despite the show's axing, Ten has shown interest in developing a new breakfast program of a similar style to launch sometime in 2013. It will be fronted by a brand new hosting team. Former Sunrise producer Adam Boland has been signed to produce the new program.
Notable guests to have appeared on the show once, or on a number of occasions include: Tony Abbott (Federal Opposition Leader), John Alexander (Former tennis player and politician), Carrie Bickmore (Co host of The Project), Lara Bingle (Model and television presenter), Julie Bishop (politician), Bob Brown (retired politician), George Calombaris (Celebrity chef), Julia Gillard (Prime Minister), Tom Hafey (AFL legend), Colin Lane (Comedian), Nicole Livingstone (Former Olympic swimmer), Hamish Macdonald, Shaun Micallef, Gerry Harvey, Sarah Murdoch, Charlie Pickering (Comedian), Matt Preston (food critic), Kate Ritchie (actor and television presenter), John Robertson (NSW opposition leader), Hugh Sheridan (actor and television presenter), Chris Anderson (NRL legend) and Merrick Watts (radio comedian).
Format changes When Breakfast launched on 23 February 2012, it was hosted by Henry, Robinson and Rochford and aired from 6 am until 9 am. Robinson would present news and sport updates on the half-hour with Roze presenting weather forecasts. The set consisted of a large red couch where Henry, Robinson and Rochford would generally present from. An Australiana backdrop existed behind the couch and was coupled with various props including an outback windmill, a moped and a wooden crate as a coffee table. A large screen, made up of 16 flat panel displays, was located adjacent to the couch and was used by Roze to present weather updates.
On 21 May 2012, Ron Wilson, Network Ten's former Ten Early News presenter, was employed to present news and sport updates, a role previously held by Robinson. At around the same time, Rochford's role in the show began to decrease with him presenting his segments from the Network Ten newsroom. On 29 June 2012, Rochford left the show with reports suggesting on-air tension with Henry led to his departure. One week later, the show's executive producer, Majella Wiemers, resigned from the show, being replaced by her deputy Sarah Bristow.
On 30 July 2012, Network Ten began to restructure its morning lineup. As part of this plan, The Circle was axed, Breakfast was shorted to an 8:30 am finish, Ten Morning News was reintroduced, and Wurrawhy was returned to its former 8:30 am timeslot. These changes saw Wilson depart the show to present Ten Morning News, and Matt Doran and Natarsha Belling introduced to present news and sport updates throughout the week. Other alterations to Breakfast included a shift towards a stronger focus on breaking and analysing news, with a brand new set to match the national Ten News theme. The large screen used in the former set was relocated to the newsroom. Due to the abrupt axing of The Circle, advertorials and infomercials were screened during Breakfast for a short period of time to complete the network's contracts with various parties. In doing so, Breakfast, became the first Australian news and current affair program to feature advertorials and infomercials.
Presenter Role Tenure Paul Henry Co-host Feb–Nov 2012 Kathryn Robinson Co-hostFeb–Nov 2012 Matt Doran Newsreader (Monday and Tuesday) Aug–Nov 2012 Natarsha Belling Newsreader (Wednesday-Friday) Aug–Nov 2012 Magdalena Roze Residential meteorologist Feb–Nov 2012 On 13 August 2012, Kathryn Robinson was absent from the program with Paul Henry presenting the program solo. Henry presented every day since the show's inception.
The fill-in news & sport presenters were Natasha Exelby and Lachlan Kennedy, whilst Summer Burke and Reuben Mourad were the fill-in weather presenters.
Segments News, sport and detailed weather reports were presented on the half-hour. As of 6 August 2012 either Henry or Robinson also presented news headlines on the quarter-hour. In addition Metropolitan viewers also received regular traffic updates for their respective city from SUNA traffic. Until 3 August 2012 after the 8:30 am news, the hosts crossed to Yumi Stynes, Gorgi Coghlan or another Circle guest host to find out what was coming up on The Circle. The hosts were joined by Wendell Sailor and Roger Oldridge respectively to preview and review NRL and AFL matches Monday and Friday mornings at 6:40 am during the respective seasons. Viewers were able to express their views by phoning the Henry Hotline, a talkback radio style segment; these calls were replayed later in the show.
In addition Around Australia was a segment where the hosts cross to Melinda Nucifora in Sydney, Ben Lewis in Melbourne, Jonathan Lea in Brisbane and Joe Hill in Adelaide to find out what is making news in their respective states. Jacqueline Maddock was the show's finance presenter and Alexis Christoforous also regularly appeared on the show as an international business correspondent. In addition a highlights segment called Mad Week aired on Friday mornings, showing highlights of the week's program.
At the end of the day's program, Henry would dedicate it to someone in the news. Listed below are regular contributors to the program and their contributions.
Presenter Role Frequency Melinda Nucifora New South Wales correspondentDaily Ben Lewis Victoria CorrespondentDaily Jonathan Lea Queensland correspondentDaily Joe Hill South Australia correspondentDaily Angela Bishop entertainment reporterOccasional Brett Mason Europe correspondentOccasional Kathryn Eisman Los Angeles correspondentWeekly Hugh Riminton political editorWeekly Reuben Mourad reporterOccasional Daniel Sutton United States correspondentOccasional Emma Dallimore United States correspondentOccasional Wendell Sailor NRL reporterTwice per week (seasonal)Rebecca Gilsenan lawOccasionalRoger Oldridge AFL reporterTwice per week (seasonal)Rosie Beaton social commentatorOccasionalTali Jatali fashionOccasionalBrendan Maclean social mediaOccasionalJulian Schillersocial mediaOccasionalLady Danielle Di-masi etiquetteOccasionalBruce HawkerpoliticsWeeklyJosh FrydenbergpoliticsWeeklyEd HusicpoliticsWeeklyMichael KrogerpoliticsOccasionalRichard AlstonpoliticsOccasionalNick GullivertechnologyOccasionalJono ColemanmediaWeeklyKathryn Maynepersonal shopperOccasionalMarc Fennellmovie reviewsWeeklyVictoria MurphySportDaily
BroadcastBreakfast was broadcast from Network Ten's Sydney studios, located in Pyrmont and was broadcast live or delayed as explained below. However, in the event of a major news event, it was broadcast live nationwide.
Due to Australia having multiple time zones, especially during Daylight Saving Time (which is not kept in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory), Breakfast was not broadcast live in all of the country but was delayed in some states. In New South Wales (including ACT), Victoria and Tasmania, Breakfast was broadcast live all year round. In Queensland it was broadcast live except during Daylight Saving Time when it is delayed by one hour. The Northern Territory had a 30-minute delay and 90 minutes during Daylight Saving Time. South Australia had a 30-minute delay all year and Western Australia had a two-hour delay and three hours during Daylight Saving Time.
Special editions and alternate broadcastsBreakfast's first broadcast, on 23 February 2012, was extended to around 10:20 am to cover the political crisis. On 27 February 2012, Breakfast was extended to 12:00 pm, replacing The Circle and Wurrawhy, to cover the Labor leadership ballot. The broadcast was originally planned to end at 11:30 am and was broadcast live throughout Australia. It attracted the show's highest ever viewership of 69,000 On 25 April 2012, to commemorate ANZAC Day, Breakfast commenced at 5 am and finished at 11.30 am, replacing The Project (encore) and The Circle. This was broadcast live around Australia with Paul Henry and Ron Wilson (who was to later join the show permanently) live in the studio, as well as Andrew Rochford live from King's Park in Perth, Kathryn Robinson live from Martin Place in Sydney and Magdalena Roze live from St Kilda Road in Melbourne to cover events planned to commemorate ANZAC Day. On this particular day, Breakfast was the only one out of Australia's four breakfast TV programs to provide live extended coverage of ANZAC Day, with other networks opting to air alternative programming before 5:30 am and after 9 am.