Airdate: ABC News Breakfast

The ABC will launch ABC News Breakfast programme on Monday November 3rd -a day before the US presidential election.

The new look morning programme will air live on ABC2 from 6 – 10am. It also streams live online.

Hosted by Virginia Trioli, Barrie Cassidy and Joe O’Brien the programme will cover news, analysis, debate, finance, sport and weather, and draw upon the vast resources of ABC newsrooms and radio programmes.

The broadcaster has spent the past few months installing cameras into its radio studios to provide visual footage of its many radio interviews. ABC News Breakfast (previously titled simply as Breakfast) will compete with Sunrise, Today and talkback radio, but promises to aim for a different feel to current morning television.

The show will also incorporate viewer SMS and email feedback, with comments  displayed on screen during the programme.

Also joining the team are Canberra correspondent Ben Worsley, sports presenter Paul Kennedy, with Vanessa O’Hanlon (formerly of Sunrise and TEN News) presenting the weather. Barrie Cassidy was brought in to the team following the arrest of foreign correspondent Peter Lloyd in Singapore.

Significantly, the programme has a youthful production team, with producers all in their late 20s and early 30s.

Executive Producer Ben Darcy, says “Breakfast will aim to deliver news, analysis and debate in an intelligent way. We’ll deal with breaking news by calling on the ABC’s network of reporters at home and abroad. For the first time, the audience will be able to watch live radio interviews and the program will also be streamed live online. Breakfast will bring together the best of the ABC in one place.”

Press Release:

ABC News Breakfast makes its debut on Monday 3 live on ABC2. Every weekday from 6am‐10am (AEST), ABC News Breakfast will offer an engaging approach to news broadcasting, with the program also streamed live online at abc.net.au/breakfast.

The four‐hour program will cover national news, analysis, debate, finance, sport and weather. Broadcast from Melbourne, the program will make full use of the ABC’s national and international network of journalists – crossing live to ABC newsrooms around the country and the world.

It will also link live to ABC studios in Sydney (702 ABC Sydney and Radio National) Melbourne (774 ABC Melbourne), the ABC’s Canberra bureau and the AM/PM/ The World Today studios, allowing viewers to see interviews they could only hear previously.

This is the first time the ABC has used radio programs for television content in this way.

The News Breakfast team includes Virginia Trioli, Barrie Cassidy and Joe O’Brien as cohosts, Canberra correspondent Ben Worsley and sports presenter Paul Kennedy, with Vanessa O’Hanlon presenting the weather.

ABC News Breakfast will offer a new and distinctly different approach to breakfast TV.

The program will provide quality news and analysis in a contemporary manner, to an audience experiencing the program on a range of broadcast platforms.

The program will be highly interactive, with viewers able to contribute to content and comment on stories via text, multi‐media messaging (MMS) and email. Viewers comments will be displayed on screen during the program.

The ABC’s Director of News, John Cameron, says the initiative expands and enhances Australia’s most comprehensive broadcast service, which now extends across several radio and television networks, and is complemented by a wealth of news and current affairs content online – through video, audio and text.

“It’s an exciting adventure and we’ve got a great team, on camera and behind the scenes”.

The production team is led by executive producer Ben Darcy and a small team of producers – Tim Ayliffe, Frith Kennedy, Justine Kerr and Chloe Adams. All are in their late 20s and early 30s but already are veterans of continuous news production and breakfast programs.

The Executive Producer Ben Darcy, says “Breakfast will aim to deliver news, analysis and debate in an intelligent way. We’ll deal with breaking news by calling on the ABC’s network of reporters at home and abroad. For the first time, the audience will be able to watch live radio interviews and the program will also be streamed live online. Breakfast will bring together the best of the ABC in one place.”