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Breakfast is served

TEN's new morning show is on the air with news, editorial, a dash of Australiana and New Zealander Paul Henry.

TEN’s new morning show, simply titled Breakfast, is on the air -and already extending its first day to 10am.

The new show has aired 4 days ahead of its official launch due to the political news of Kevin Rudd resigning as Foreign Minister.

In its first day the show is extending to 10am to cover a 9am news conference by Julia Gillard.

The busy set for the show features a red couch and a light blue backdrop of Australiana, including an outback windmill, a moped and a wood-crate coffee table.

Adjacent to the host-set is a large screen that doubles for weather and live crosses.

New Zealander Paul Henry, Kathryn Robinson and Andrew Rochford are joined on the couch, with weather presenter Magdalena Roze occasionally visible.

This morning’s items have included several interviews on the Rudd / Gillard feud, comedians Anthony Ackroyd and Gabby Millgate doubling as the politicians, street vox pops, a story on the new Azaria Chamberlain inquiry, Paul Henry travelling around Australia, news bulletins, news updates, audience feedback and a segment called The Buzz.

So far the show is playing it safe, joining the genre format of its commercial rivals, rather than re-inventing the wheel. Paul Henry adds danger, and certainly isn’t shy at his comments at the end of many news items, which is presumably why he was hired. But the loose, off-script moments illustrate he’s very comfortable with Live television.

The show hasn’t been without some technical glitches with its vision switching, audio problems, hosts unsure of which item was next and a few unfinished sentences, but it’s early days and the audience is likely to give them more credit for starting ahead of time.

What are your initial thoughts on the show so far?

This post updates.

38 Responses

  1. Why are people making such a big deal about the set, what it looks like, what should be were?

    Have we become a society that comments after visiting our friend’s homes, or the homes of people who have only just met, I don’t think so.

    I thought we were a society that accepted everyone, sometimes not understanding another’s choices, but accepting them anyway.

    BTW, I like the set. It’s colours are subdued, which is a nice change in the morning and the rustic icons around the set, sea chest, and wind mill remind me of images of Australia.

    If only I could see the show in real time here in the north.

  2. When Ten were the only network that given show Rudd’s speech from Washington live at 8am Queensland time (Sunrise, Today and ABC1 all showed it live) it was a tell tail sign that it cannot be a source for major news stories outside the south east states.

    I already had a dislike for Henry when he hosted Breakfast in New Zealand. My opinions haven’t changed after watching small bits of todays show.

    The item between Andrew and Paul about the iPhone caffinee app was enough for me.

  3. I really enjoyed it!

    Henry delivered like we expect, the other two impressed me more than I expected!

    As everyone else said the set is horrible!

    However, the graphics and colours are great! Very watchable and easy on the eye.

    I think this can beat Today – Henry is better than Karl just hope the others hold up their end.

    I think they should have gone for a desk and a couch – but in a smaller studio than Today.

    I hope this gets a crowd, its better than “The Project” and i actually enjoyed the experience.

    Henry Hotline- classic.

  4. I have watched the first half hour. That set is just a joke. Looks exactly like they bought some discount home wares for today’s show cause the set was not finished. The set has change improved. Why a windmill A motorbike and a coffee table like that?? And some mood lighting would help. The lighting is flat and bright. Looks like its lit by one or two lights. Paul is better than what I thought he would be but the others need to get some camera time. Audio had many problems. Weather presentation was good. Need a bit more variety with camera angle. The one shot of three on the couch got a bit boring. But please. Improve the set. Please.

  5. I flicked it over for 20 seconds just for a look as i was enjoying Sunrises Coverage of the political storm. Too early to form an opinion but that set was so annoying.

  6. It was woeful! not even live into WA or Wait Awhile. At least Sunrise and Today can cover it live into WA and I mean “live” when there’s big news going on.

  7. I was expecting it to be a morning version of The Project but it was mostly the same as the others. Paul Henry was more amusing than I was expecting and he carries the show. I agree that the set is awful. I’ll keep watching.

  8. When I saw that ghastly set I thought “Oh dear God” and it got worse as I watched. It was also disappointing that whereas ABC, 7 and 9 all went live into Queensland with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s press conferences. I won’t be watching again tomorrow.

  9. It’s Mardi Gras so I’m sure there must be a sale on a gag for that Kiwi. He needs to let the other presenters speak without interruption. I’ll continue to wake up with Today I think.

  10. I gave them a go, but they failed. Set is terrible, I would go as far to say as one of the worst TV sets in Australia., replace that pirates treasure chest with a real desk and take away that motorbike, windmill etc in the background. The only good thing about the set is the weather area, and that’s not even that great.
    I don’t think the show should be all about Paul Henry, he needs to be put to where Andrew is and Andrew in the middle. I’ll stick to Sunrise…

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