Weekend Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and currently hosted by Andrew O'Keefe and Monique Wright.
Weekend Sunrise | |
---|---|
Genre | Breakfast News Program |
Presented by | Andrew O'Keefe Monique Wright |
Opening theme | (Reach Up for the) Sunrise, Duran Duran |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 10 |
No. of episodes | 600+ |
Production | |
Producer | Michael Pell |
Production locations | Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales |
Running time | 180 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | Seven Network |
Release | 10 April 2005 – present |
Related | |
Sunrise |
History
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 (8 am – 9 am) 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 (7:00 am – 9:00 am) 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 8 am till 10 am. When Sportsworld returned for the football season Weekend Sunrise settled into a 90-minute format, 8:00 am – 9:30 am. 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 7:30 am, to match the new start time of Nine's Sunday program. The program continued to run through to 10:00 am, meaning the program had a two-and-a-half-hour running time.
In 2009, the program's start time was moved even earlier. 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 9:00 am. But this was changed on 28 January 2009 to 7:00 am to 9:00 am. As result, Seven announced that Weekend Sunrise would also commence at 7:00 am and run through to 10:00 am, meaning the program would go for three hours, the same as the weekday version of Sunrise.[1]
On 13 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. 7:00 am – 9:00 am. Saturday Disney, which previously occupied the timeslot, immediately followed Weekend Sunrise, until in 2012 it was permanently moved to 7Two, airing in the same time as Weekend Sunrise. The original Saturday team consisted of Samantha Armytage co-hosting with Larry Emdur with Sarah Cumming presenting the news, Simon Reeve presenting sport and James Tobin presenting the weather.
In November 2011, Adam Boland was appointed executive producer of the program. Boland overhauled the program introducing a new format, a number of new segments and new regulars.
In September 2012, executive producer Adam Boland announced that the show would extend to three hours on Saturday from October. Boland finished with the Seven Network in February 2013 to later join Network Ten. Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell replaced Boland.
In June 2013, Melissa Doyle announced that she would be leaving Sunrise for a national network role, with Samantha Armytage replacing her. Monique Wright initially replaced Armytage on Weekend Sunrise, but it was not until February 2014 in which Wright was made a permanent co-host on the show.[2]
In February 2016, Sally Bowrey joined the show as entertainment and social media presenter.
In May 2016 Sally Bowrey announced she is pregnant with her second child.
In June 2016 Monique Wright returned to weekend sunrise from maternity leave.
Format
Similar to Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise blends a mixture of news every thirty minutes, interviews and light-hearted feature pieces into three hours each morning. Occasionally, Weekend Sunrise may present the show from other locations, however, unlike Sunrise, this is less common.
News
As with Sunrise, national news updates are provided at the half hour mark, followed by a summary of overnight sport and weather.
Hosts
Presenter | Role | Tenure |
---|---|---|
Andrew O'Keefe | Co-Host | 2006–present |
Monique Wright | Co-Host | 2013–present |
Talitha Cummins | News | 2007–2008, 2013–present |
Simon Reeve | Sport | 2007–2014, 2015–present |
Sally Bowery | Entertainment & Social Media | 2016–present |
James Tobin | Weather | 2009–present |
Previous hosts
Presenter | Role | Tenure |
---|---|---|
Chris Reason | Co-Host | 2005 – 2006 |
Lisa Wilkinson | Co-Host | 2005 – 2007 |
Samantha Armytage | Co-Host | 2007 – 2013 |
Kylie Gillies | Sport | 2005 – 2007 |
Ryan Phelan | Sport | 2014 – 2015 |
Simon Reeve | News | 2005 – 2007 |
Talitha Cummins | News | 2007 |
Sharyn Ghidella | News | 2008 – 2011 |
Jessica Rowe | News | 2011 – 2013 |
Previous hosts of Weekend Sunrise include Chris Reason, Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Armytage. Kylie Gillies was the original sports presenter until she moved to The Morning Show and Talitha Cummins presented the news from June 2007 until July 2008. Sharyn Ghidella presented the news from 2008 until 2010. Larry Emdur hosted Weekend Sunrise on Saturdays in 2010. Sarah Cumming previously presented the news on Saturday and is now Seven News Sydney weather presenter. Samantha Armytage hosted the program from June 2007 until August 2013 and is now host of Sunrise. Jessica Rowe presented the news from 2010 until 2013. Ryan Phelan presented sport throughout the first half of 2015 before Simon Reeve returned to his post following the axing of Million Dollar Minute.
Current fill-in presenters that have recently hosted or co-hosted Weekend Sunrise include Kylie Gillies, Natalie Barr, Mark Beretta, Larry Emdur, Ryan Phelan, Angela Cox, Edwina Bartholomew and Andrew Rochford.
- Fill-in News Presenters: Sarah Cumming and Sally Bowrey
- Fill-in Sport Presenters: Ryan Phelan, Jim Wilson and Matt Carmichael.
- Fill-in Weather Presenters: Nuala Hafner and Tom Williams.
Other Seven presenters who have either filled in or presented Weekend Sunrise in the past include Matt White, Jessica Rowe, Kellie Sloane, Rebecca Maddern, Rahni Sadler, Ben Davis, Mike Amor, Jillian Whiting and Ben Damon, amongst others.
Regulars
Presenter | Role | Tenure |
---|---|---|
Steve Hargrave | UK/Entertainment Correspondent | 2013–present |
Blair Late | Showbiz Reporter | 2010–14 |
Richard Arnold | UK Entertainment | 2009–present |
Nuala Hafner | Melbourne Correspondent | 2010–11 (various reports before) |
Mark Riley | Chief Political Correspondent | 2005–present |
Mike Amor | US Bureau Correspondent | 2005–present |
Maude Garrett | G-Gap | 2012–present |
Jabba | Movie Reviews | 2013–present |
James Mathison | Movie Reviews | 2012–13 |
Jonathan Coleman | Movie Reviews | 2011–12 |
Jane Caro | Masters Of Spin | 2011–present |
Nick Cater | Masters Of Spin | 2014–present |
Paul Murray | All Stars | 2006–10 |
Tim Ross | All Stars | 2011–present |
Keith Suter | Foreign Affairs | 2005–present |
Andrew Rochford | Health Editor | 2014–present |
Broadcasting
Because Australia has more than one time zone, Weekend Sunrise is not broadcast live to all of Australia, it is instead broadcast delayed. New South Wales (including ACT), Victoria, Tasmania have Weekend 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 Weekend 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 Weekend Sunrise are altered during special circumstances. On the morning of 17 July 2010, Weekend Sunrise was extended well past 9am continuing into 1pm in the afternoon when Julia Gillard announced that Australia would be heading to the polls on 21 August. When Weekend Sunrise was covering the Victorian bushfires in February 2009, the show extended its coverage until 11am, with the extra hour dedicated to the events occurring in Victoria.
Sunrise or Weekend Sunrise do not air on Christmas Day
Logos
-
25 January 2010 – 31 January 2016
Theme song
Weekend Sunrise used Duran Duran's "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise" as its theme song until 2010 when MGMT's "Electric Feel" replaced it. In November 2011, "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise" was reinstated as the theme song.
See also
References
- ^ Knox, David (28 January 2009). "Weekend Sunrise wakes up to Today's alarm". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
- ^ Monique Wright names as permanent co-host of Weekend Sunrise, TV Tonight, 25 February 2014