Sunrise (Australian TV program)
| Sunrise | |
|---|---|
 Sunrise Logo | |
| Presented by | Melissa Doyle (2001–present) David Koch (2002–present) |
| Opening theme | Electric Feel, MGMT |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Michael Pell |
| Running time | 180 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network |
| Release | 17 January 1991 – present |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2010) |
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.
History
The history of Sunrise can be traced back to at least 17 January 1991 when 11AM news presenter Darren McDonald began presenting an early morning Seven News - Sunrise Edition bulletin prior to hostilities breaking out during the Gulf War.
In 1996, Seven introduced a one hour weekday bulletin called Sunrise News, later renamed Sunrise. Seven recruited Chris Bath from NBN Television to present the bulletin alongside Peter Ford.[1] Ford moved to other presenting roles in 1996, and was replaced by finance editor David Koch. In 1997, Chris Bath was transferred to Seven's 10.30pm News and was replaced by Melissa Doyle. Seven launched a Sunday bulletin hosted by Stan Grant, entitled Sunday Sunrise, in 1997.[2] Weekday Sunrise was cancelled in 1999, replaced by children's programme The Big Breakfast.[3] Seven maintained half-hourly news updates during The Big Breakfast, and their Sunday bulletin was not affected by the axing.
During the Sydney 2000 Olympics Andrew Daddo and Johanna Griggs presented Olympic Sunrise from a leased apartment near Lavender Bay in Sydney which provided the Harbour Bridge and Opera House as stunning waterside backdrops.
In 2000, the program was replaced by a new version of Sunrise, hosted by Georgie Gardner and Mark Beretta, and music video program AMV.
Other temporary Sunrise hosts up until this time include Anne Fulwood who was filling in for Georgie Gardner at the time of the program's end, Leigh Hatcher (now host of breakfast bulletin First Edition on Sky News Australia) and Nick McArdle previous (weekend sport reader, Seven News Sydney).
In March 2002, Seven revamped their breakfast television schedule with Seven Early News at 6:00 a.m., hosted by Chris Reason (and only lasted around one week), and a new version of Sunrise from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., hosted by Reason and Melissa Doyle. Sunrise from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. began in February the same year. David Koch was brought in to present the finance reports. In October of that year, Reason discovered he had another cancerous tumour behind his kidney and had to quit. Four years earlier he had undergone treatment for another growth.
Koch was appointed temporary presenter, a position made permanent. Sunrise was yet again revamped soon after Koch's appointment, focusing less on hard news and became more family friendly. The show, along with its rival Today on Nine, have become more tabloid focused. This has boosted ratings by moving people away from morning radio and the newspaper to the TV[citation needed].
In 2003, the show began to pick up ratings, and appointed Natalie Barr to present the news updates, followed by the appointment of former Network Ten journalist Grant Denyer to present weather reports, then the appointment of Mark Beretta, who was brought in to present sports updates. On 30 August 2004, Sunrise, Seven News Sydney, and Seven Morning News moved from their studios in Epping to the new Seven News centre at Martin Place.
On 29 January 2007 Sunrise had a complete makeover with changes to the set and on-screen graphics. Due to continued viewer feedback, the Sunrise set changed again on 10 June 2007, Specifically, the new set includes more of the city into its shots by the installation of smart glass. This glass, similar to that on the new Boeing 787 allows for the transparency of the glass to be adjusted, ranging from clear, to partially transparent to completely opaque, showing as a solid blue. These changes have proved useful in shielding viewers from the actions of some passers by, notably, cast members of the ABC show The Chaser's War on Everything. The set was also modified so The Morning Show's set could fit into the Martin Place current affairs studio. In October 2009, it was announced that at the start of 2010, Sunrise will receive a brand new set, format, graphics and logo.
In April 2010, Sunrise added a feature show that shows a selection of highlights from the previous day’s (of in the case of Monday, Friday's) Sunrise, the show is known as Sunrise Extra. Sunrise Extra airs at 5am each weekday morning prior to Seven Early News.
Special Editions
Prior to 2010, occasionally Sunrise aired two special Saturday editions. This included, since 2003:
- 22 March 2003 - David Koch and Melissa Doyle hosted the special edition of Sunrise covering the latest on the Iraq war as it happened. This also saw the rise of Natalie Barr as news presenter.
- 24 November 2007 (as Weekend Sunrise) - A special edition hosted by Andrew O'Keefe and Samantha Armytage covering the final day of the 2007 election campaign. Talitha Cummins presented the news, whilst Kylie Gillies presented the sport.
- 17 July 2010 (as Weekend Sunrise) - A special edition hosted by Larry Emdur and Rebecca Maddern covering from 7.00am to 1.30pm, Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard's trip to Government House to have a chat with Governor General Quentin Bryce and her press conference at Government House about an election to be held on 21 August and Tony Abbott's press conference in Brisbane. Sarah Cumming presented the news, Simon Reeve presented the sport and James Tobin presented the weather.
- The weeks of 10 January – 14 and 17 – 21 January - Sunrise was extended to start at 5am and going on past 9am on these mornings to cover the ongoing 2010-2011 Queensland floods and 2011 Victorian floods with Seven News picking up the rest of the coverage. As a result, the tennis coverage was moved to 7Two (week of 10-14 Jan) and Sunrise extended to finish at 10am (week of 17-21 January).
- 22 February 2011 - David Koch went to Christchurch to report live on the Christchurch Earthquake, 2011.
Musical Guests
A number of musical guests have appeared on Sunrise and performed live action the show. Like the rest of the turdio, their stage area gives people on the street a chance to view the performances. Occasionally, musical guests perform 'on the plaza', on a temporary stage erected in Martin Place. Musical performances normally take place at 7:50am and 8:50am, with most guests playing two songs.
Musical guests who have appeared on Sunrise include Fergie, Paulini, Young Divas, Pink, Sam Sparro, The Veronicas, The Wiggles, Hinder, Take That, Keith Urban, Joss Stone, Eskimo Joe, Sneaky Sound System, Thirsty Merc, Missy Higgins, Josh Groban, Human Nature, Grinspoon, Avril Lavigne, Patrizio Buanne, Mika, Small Mercies, Zac Efron, Tamara Dowhaluk, Mark Dawson, Wilhediva Slater, The Androids, Michael Bublé, Maroon 5, Crowded house, Silverchair, Paul Kelly, Colbie Caillat, Gym Class Heroes, Editors, Jose Gonzalez, Josh Pyke, Daddy Cool, Something for Kate, The Whitlams with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Cat Empire, Rogue Traders, Kelly Clarkson, The Last Goodnight, Ben Lee, Anthony Callea, Delta Goodrem, David Campbell, Kate Miller-Heidke, Tina Arena, Hi-5, Mika, Operator Please, Newton Faulkner, Kelly Rowland, Guy Sebastian, Simple Plan, Ian Moss, The Pussycat Dolls, Lady GaGa, Justin Bieber, Usher Raymond, Alexandra Burke, Amy Meredith, Ne-Yo, The Choirboys, Florence and the Machine, Michael Paynter, Katy Perry and Little Red.
During September to November, finalists from the second season of The X Factor have also performed.
Weekend Sunrise
In 2005 the Seven Network replaced its struggling Sunday morning program Sunday Sunrise with a program called Weekend Sunrise which originally was an hour long (8am - 9am) program with an identical format to Sunrise. Hosted by Chris Reason and Lisa Wilkinson, the program was successful and various critiques at the time called for the program to be lengthened to two hours (7am - 9am) and be extended to Saturday mornings as well as Sunday.[citation needed]
In 2006, Weekend Sunrise was extended from an hour to a two hour show, running every Sunday from 8am till 10am. When Sportsworld returned for the football season Weekend Sunrise settled into a 90 minute format, 8am - 9.30am. After Sportsworld's series concluded, the show returned to a two hour format.
Andrew O'Keefe initially temporarily replaced host Chris Reason in 2006, but after improved ratings he was given the hosting position permanently. In 2007, Wilkinson moved to the Nine Network to host Today, and was replaced by Samantha Armytage. In 2008, Weekend Sunrise moved their start time 30 minutes earlier to 7.30am, to match the new start time of Nine's Sunday program. The program continued to run through to 10am, meaning the program had a two-and-a-half hour running time.
In 2009, the program's start time was moved even eariler. Originally, it was announced that Today on Sunday (now Weekend Today), the replacement the long-running Nine's Sunday, would run from 7.30 to 9am. But this was changed on 28 January 2009 to 7 to 9am. As result, Seven announced that Weekend Sunrise would also commence at 7am and run through to 10am, meaning the program would go for 3 hours, the same as the weekday version of Sunrise.[4]
In February 2010, Seven announced that Weekend Sunrise would extend to Saturdays to compete against Weekend Today. The Saturday edition airs in the same time slot as Weekend Today, i.e. 7am - 9am. Saturday Disney, which previously occupied the timeslot, immediately follows Weekend Sunrise. The original Saturday team consisted of Samantha Armytage co-hosting with Larry Emdur with Sarah Cumming presenting the news and Simon Reeve sport and James Tobin presenting the weather.
Format
Like most other breakfast television shows, Sunrise blends a mixture of news every thirty minutes, interviews and light-hearted feature pieces into three hours each morning. Often they will go out and present the show from other locations, such as Hawaii, Las Vegas, Athens, Disneyland, Beijing and Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games, Beaconsfield in Tasmania and Dreamworld on the Gold Coast. A major feature of the show is that the viewer can send in their responses to stories via email, SMS, phone, Facebook and Twitter. Viewers can also bring up issues they want reviewed or investigated and it is recorded on the ROSwall (Responses of Sunrisers).
News and Traffic
Local news updates, following the national news updates at 6am, 7am, and 8am were launched on 28 May 2007, offering viewers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, and Perth news specific to their city. Prior to this, local weather and capital city traffic updates had already been inserted into the program. These were removed in June 2008, following the commencement of Seven Early News, due to logistical reasons.
Traffic reports are shown on the half hour during the show, and are presented in some cities from a local helicopter.
Presenters
Weekdays
| Presenter | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa Doyle | Co-Host | 1997-1999, 2001- |
| David Koch | Co-Host | 2002- |
| Natalie Barr | News | 2002- |
| Mark Beretta | Sport | 2004- |
| Grant Denyer | Weather | 2004–2006, 2010- |
Chris Reason was the original co-host with Melissa Doyle, while Monique Wright, David Brown and Fifi Box were previous weather presenters. Brown resigned from his role in July 2008, with no replacement until 2009, being Fifi Box.[5] On 24 January 2010 it was announced the original presenter Grant Denyer would return to the weather, and Fifi Box would move to entertainment.[6]
Current fill-in presenters that have recently hosted or co-hosted Sunrise and Weekend Sunrise include Kylie Gillies, Natalie Barr, Matt White, Mark Beretta, Larry Emdur, Samantha Armytage, Rebecca Maddern, Tony Squires, Simon Reeve, Mike Munro, Rahni Sadler and Monique Wright.
Other Seven presenters who have either filled in or presented Sunrise in the past include Nick McArdle, Anne Fulwood, Ben Davis, Chris Reason, Bruce McAvaney, Jennifer Keyte, Ann Sanders, Sophie Hull, Mike Amor, Sarah Cumming, Jessica Rowe, Jillian Whiting, Emmy Kubainski, Rosanna Mangiarelli, Joanne Desmond, Sharyn Ghidella, and Ben Damon, amongst others.
Recurring Sunrise Regulars
| Presenter | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Nelson Aspen | Showbiz editor | 2003- |
| Molly Meldrum | Music editor | 2009- |
| Richard Arnold | UK Entertainment | 2009- |
| Edwina Bartholomew | Sydney correspondent | 2011- |
| Nuala Hafner | Melbourne correspondent | 2010- (various reports before) |
| Amanda Bachmann | Adelaide correspondent | 2010- |
| Michelle Tapper | Brisbane correspondent | 2010- |
| Mark Riley | Chief Political correspondent | 2004- |
| Martin Frizell | UK Bureau correspondent | 2010- |
| Mike Amor | US Bureau correspondent | 2001- |
| Angela Cox | US Bureau correspondent | 2010- |
| Simon Reeve | Reporter | 2005 - 2010 |
| Monique Wright | Reporter | 2004 - 2007 |
| James Tobin | Reporter | 2008- |
| Kai Aiyub | Fashion | 2007- |
| Peter Blasina | "Gadget Guy" technology news | 2002- |
| Jim Wilson | Talking Sport | 2004- |
| Rebecca Wilson | Talking Sport | 2009- |
| Matthew Richardson | Talking Sport | 2010- |
| Tom Harley | Talking Sport | 2010- |
| Neil Mitchell | Kings of Talkback Radio | 2010- |
| Jason Morrison | Kings of Talkback Radio | 2010- |
| Michael Smith | Kings of Talkback Radio | 2010- |
| Andrew Moore | Kings of Talkback Radio | 2010- |
| Sarah Wilson | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Kylie Gillies | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Jackie Frank | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Felicity Harley | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Flip Shelton | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Charlotte Dawson | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Julia Zaetta | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Kim Wilson | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Nicky Briger | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Sophie Falkiner | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Jacinta Tynan | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| Sarrah Le Marquand | Kochie's Angels | 2010- |
| John Mangos | Mel's Devils | 2010- |
| Larry Emdur | Mel's Devils | 2010- |
| Vince Sorrenti | Mel's Devils | 2010- |
| Paul Murray | Weekend All Stars | 2004 - 2010 |
| Tim Ross | Weekend All Stars | 2011- |
| Prue MacSween | Weekend All Stars | 2007- |
| Dr Keith Suter | Foreign affairs | 2002- |
| Dr Ginni Mansberg | General Practitioner | 2009- |
| Dr John D'Arcy | Medical editor | 2001- |
| Dr Michael Carr-Gregg | Child Psychology | 2006- |
| Jo Lamble | Resident Psychologist | 2005- |
| Barbara Northwood | Cooking | 2005- |
Controversies
In 2003 an interview aired live with Sue Butler from the Macquarie Dictionary on the topic of swearing and what was acceptable.
- Sue Butler: Today's taboos are all about labels that you use for people. So that the sentence, "you are a" is practically a no no. You cannot use...
- David Koch: Even if you use boofhead.
- Sue Butler: Even if you use boofhead because you're putting it in the same context as things which are clearly rude. You know: "You are a fuckwit." Well, obviously we know that's bad.
Doyle and Koch immediately ended the interview and apologised afterwards. This did not prevent angry viewers writing and emailing in complaints over the interview.[7]
In 2006, a number of people including Sunrise presenters David Koch and Melissa Doyle, news presenter Natalie Barr, executive producer Adam Boland and Melbourne news presenter Jennifer Keyte and former Today Tonight host Naomi Robson faced court convictions over a story run in 2004 relating to a 14-year old boy who "divorced" his mother. Under the Victorian Children and Young Persons Act, it is prohibited to publish the identity of a child involved in Children's Court proceedings. While the Sunrise cast and crew were cleared of any wrongdoing, the Seven Network itself was ultimately held responsible.[8]
Upon the rescue of trapped miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell in the aftermath of the Beaconsfield mine collapse, David Koch was invited into an ambulance. This led to rival Channel Nine and Today labelling him an "ambulance chaser".[9]
On 4 December 2006, Sunrise host David Koch read the joke of the day, which received public outcry. The Sunrise website quoting:
Kochie's joke of the day is being rested today after a controversial one yesterday. He got in a little strife from his big bosses. We're currently deciding whether to keep Kochie's joke. What do you think?
The joke went along the lines of:
John Howard went skiing and his bodyguard saw 'John Howard is a Dork' peed into the snow...Johnny went off and told his guard to get a sample of it and find out who did it at all costs...The guard returned a day later and said we have good and bad news...Johnny asked what the good news was, and the guard retorted that it was Kim Beazley's urine...Johnny says right, he's stuffed now - throw the book at him...What's the bad news? The guard grins and says it was in Janette's handwriting.
In April 2007, reports surfaced that the show was lobbying Vietnamese authorities to hold an ANZAC Day dawn service early so it could be broadcast live on television in Australia.[10] Koch denied on-air that any such lobbying had occurred. His claim was proven false upon the release of email communications from the office of then opposition leader Kevin Rudd. After considerable political fallout over the alleged request, opposition leader Kevin Rudd and Liberal minister Joe Hockey decided to end their regular weekly appearances on the program.[11]
On the 18 March 2008 episode Koch and Doyle were ambushed by a group of protesters chanting and carrying placards that claimed "Channel 7 doesn't pay", a reference to controversy surrounding the reported non-payment of winnings to National Bingo Night audience members and home viewers.[12] The group, posing as fans of guest Keith Urban, were driven away by security.[13] Koch later blamed the incident on the Nine Network's A Current Affair, a theory that was lent credence when the same protesters appeared on that night's episode of the program.[14] Both Koch and co-host Melissa Doyle promised to look into their allegations,[12] but later simply read a statement from the network.
In April 2010, a scheduled concert for Canadian teen singer, Justin Bieber, at Circular Quay, Sydney was cancelled at 5:00 am by order of police after the crowd of more than 5,000 people (mainly teenage girls) had begun a crowd crush and were ignoring the orders of the crowd controllers. Eight people were taken to hospital for their injuries and others suffered from hyperventilation.[15][16] The outdoor concert was then moved to the Sunrise studios at Martin Place. Sunrise had been promoting the concert for two weeks beforehand, creating a significant amount of excitement and anticipation. It was also alleged that Bieber swore at a floor manager but was re-assured by Bieber's regular sound technician that "he tells us that all the time". Bieber, however, has denied this,[17] publicly denouncing the claims as "lies and rumors" spread by "adults".[18] The concert for singer Usher, scheduled for 21 May, more than three weeks after the Bieber incident, required fans to register for a free ticket online in order to attend the concert, however the tickets quickly ran out as a result of scalpers. When more tickets were promised later in the week, the website crashed as soon as the ticket distribution began, causing many fans to miss out.
On Good Friday, 2009, Sunrise suffered its first one-day ratings defeat nationally against Today since 2004.
Broadcasting
Because Australia has more than one time zone, Sunrise is not broadcast live to all of Australia, it is instead broadcast delayed. New South Wales (including ACT), Victoria, Tasmania have Sunrise broadcast live all year round, Queensland has Sunrise broadcast live in wintertime, but during Daylight Saving Time in Sydney has the program delayed by one hour. The Northern Territory has Sunrise delayed 30 minutes during winter and 1 hour and 30 minutes during Daylight Savings in Sydney. South Australia has it delayed by 30 minutes all year around, and Western Australia has it delayed by 2 hours in wintertime and by 3 hours during Daylight Savings in Sydney.
Occasionally, broadcasts of Sunrise are altered during special circumstances. On the morning of 20 March 2006 when Sunrise is normally on a 1 hour delay in to Queensland, Sunrise was broadcast live in order to provide immediate and up-to-date information on Tropical Cyclone Larry to local residents. The show continued to be broadcast until 10am Sydney time only in to Queensland to continue these updates and prevent scheduling problems.
During 2008's World Youth Day in Sydney, Sunrise was extended on Thursday, 17 July and Monday, 21 July to cover the Pope's morning mass and the departure of the Pope respectively. Both of those editions ended at 9:30am with The Morning Show picking up the rest of the coverage.
Sunrise was extended well past 9am on the morning of Wednesday, 13 October to cover the 2010 Copiapó mining accident. As a result, The Morning Show did not air.
Theme Song
Sunrise used Duran Duran's "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise" as its theme song up until 2010 when MGMT's Electric Feel replaced it. Formerly, it had used a more traditional morning news theme before switching to the song. In the past it has also used the Seven News theme which was based on the John Williams piece "The Mission".
See also
Notes & References
- ^ Cockington, James (6 May 1996). "Breakfast TV". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 4.
- ^ Money, Lawrence (12 January 1997). "Stanley times three". Sunday Age. p. 14.
- ^ "Wake up with bright sparks". Adelaide Advertiser. 28 July 1999. p. 49.
- ^ Knox, David (28 January 2009). "Weekend Sunrise wakes up to Today's alarm". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
- ^ Fifi Box to be Sunrise regular, News.com.au, 5 August 2008
- ^ Clune, Richard (24 January 2010). "Denyer granted new Sunrise". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ Nincompoops at Sunrise, Media Watch, 21 July 2003
- ^ Fines for divorce story, Herald Sun, 18 May 2006
- ^ The Tapestry of Seven v Nine, Media Watch, 5 June 2006
- ^ Seven, Rudd deny Anzac Dawn fake broadcast report, Herald Sun, 8 April 2007
- ^ Sun sets on Sunrise rivalry, The Age, 16 April 2007.
- ^ a b Kochie blames Nine for Sunrise ambush
- ^ "Channel Seven doesn't pay!"
- ^ All's fair in ambush journalism and dodgy game shows?
- ^ Fans hurt in hysterical chaos over Justin Bieber Sunrise appearance 27 April 2010
- ^ Bieber Fever Sends Eight Australian Fans to Hospital 26 April 2010
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Justin Bieber F Word Tirade - Twitter Response". National Ledger. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
External links
