★★★★★ 0/5

Gallery: ABC News Breakfast

ABC News Breakfast opened up the Australian Financial Review and got serious, in its first outing on ABC2 today.

22
Leave a comment

ABC News Breakfast launched at 6am on ABC2 today, breaking out the Australian Financial Review and talking in tones that said “we’re not Today or Sunrise.” No doubt their commercial rivals will be saying exactly the same thing.

But it’s good to have choice.

Here’s a few snapshots of the first show, including some that would suggest Rupert Murdoch is anything other than impressed.

For the record, his footage was from the Boyer Lecture recorded previously…

If you saw the show, be sure to leave a comment.

22 Responses

  1. I do not always have time to watch the Breakfast TV News, but I enjoyed the analysis of newspapers by the Arab guy (my apologies I forget his name, could you provide it please?) in the first week. He is better than any of the other newspaper commentators, but Virginia and Barry have to let him do the talking and stop trying to control the flow of his analysis, because he had a very intelligent set of comments. Can we have him back permanently, because it is something of a coup to introduce someone who is not a white anglo aussie?
    The presentation of Virginia and Barry is a bit wooden, but they may warm to it. Good luck!

  2. I loved it! Finally there is a real alternative to the tabloids of seven and nine. Give Barrie Cassidy and Virginia Trioli a few weeks to settle in.

    Its great to see a high quality news program at breakfast time. It has been mentioned that the graphics need abit of work, but these problems will be resolved in due time.

    The fully automated studio seems to be working pretty well and I look forward to now starting my mornings free from the Tabloids of the other networks.

    Keep up the Good Work Auntie.

  5. I have hopes for this show. Barrie Cassidy and Virginia Trioli make a good team, although I didn’t notice the lack of chemistry between them. Vanessa O’Hanlon is more beautiful than she looked when she was doing the traffic report for Ten News Melbourne. To me, the theme song is excellent, and is so much better than the one used for the ABC’s other news programs. The ABC went one step further by streaming live online, which is what Sunrise and Today don’t do.

    There are two issues that I had with this show. One is the lack of a clock. I think that this feature would be useful because it would tell viewers the time if they do not have a clock anywhere in the room where they have the TV. I have one of those Panasonic DVD recorders, and the only way I can get ABC2 is from through it, and the time is not shown on its display while it is running. So if I wanted to know what the time was, I had to look at it on my wrist watch.

    My mother was looking forward to this program, but after a couple of news stories, plus sport and weather, she got bored with it, saying it was more of the same. I agree with her. At times, it felt like the TV version of NewsRadio. When I suggested to her that she gave it a week and she what she thinks then, she just wouldn’t budge. I am sure the program will get better as the weeks go by, and it would be interesting to see how this fares up against the two heavyweights in the coming weeks.

  7. I like the level of news coverage, especially in contrast
    to the faux family soap opera of Sunrise. 🙂
    The lack of a time stamp is disappointing.
    The “ticker tape” (not the right term, I know) I find a
    little off putting in that it’s small, yellow & in a very rounded font –
    it reminds me of product disclaimers on adverts. Besides, the
    relatively huge logos dwarf it so much that I tend to
    ignore what it’s saying (pity).
    Still a fan of the ABC, though…

  8. A hands down winner over Today and Sunrise if you want real news on your TV at breakfast. Obviously modelled on the BBC’s version, which is no bad thing. Only reason I won’t watch it is because Fran Kelly is too good on Radio National Breakfast.

  9. I really did like it, the only issue again was chemistry. But this really would not have been as noticeable it the show did not have the signal shot of both of the anchors. But that will just take time to get used to. My only real issue is there is no clock. really this should have been done. Especially as in the bottom corner they had the 2 logo and the ABC logo. So it was not like there was no room. But otherwise it was a really good show. it definitely will get better as the hosts get used to the style.

  10. I watched it, but find the couple without any chemistry. I’ll give it another week, if they don’t improve I’m back to Today/Sunrise. I must say that the sport presenter is quite hot.

  13. I only saw ten minutes of it, but I thought it was pretty good, and certainly a step in the right direction by the ABC (I’ve been dreaming of a more newsy breakfast show for years now). I was particularly impressed by the coverage of the Maluku bombings, which drew the attention of viewers to the fact that news was breaking without sensationalising it or making it out to be more than it was.

    My main criticism is that the set and the opening graphics are a bit of a dog’s breakfast. And yes, the weather girl’s clockwork 90-degree turns were a bit distracting. I’m sure the latter will even out after a while though, once she gets used to the position of the autocue and everything.

  14. It seemed like they started with a camera angle of the two hosts, even though only one of them was talking.
    This left the other one staring intently into camera with nothing to do. This shifted over the course of the show towards the more normal alternate host roles.
    It was like they were changing their format within the show, which is an interesting policy…
    The two-shot of the pair of hosts had a slightly
    creepy quality, like being peered at by crows… 🙂

    Overall, it was OK… but then I usually listen to NewsRadio in the early morning.

  15. Well the chemistry will take a bit of work – they need to learn to match each others tone – but i thought it went well.

    A clock on screen would be useful, I found myself losing track of time without it before I had to leave for work.

    I really hate the graphics, they seem really tacky to me – Not a fan of the theme music either.

    Lot’s of promise, I think they just need to set the tone.

  16. Thought it was great. I have been slipping away from Sunrise for a while and now I have an alternative option. I would have liked to see the radio crosses, but didn’t get the opportunity. It was fast in breaking the news about bombs in Moluccas (sunrise didn’t have it in their 1/2 hour update). I was also a little sick of switching back to the uni fee story, but this is still better than hearing Sunrise and Today opinions on petty issues. On the whole – two thumbs up. Go aunty!!!

  17. I enjoyed it, actually got some decent news instead of rubbish like stories on how to walk in heals all day. I’m a bit tired of the so called banter between the hosts on the other networks, I think on Sunrise they do at least get along with each other and like each other, where on Today it seems forced and fake but either way it gets irritating.

    I’m going to continue to watch it, shame it’s only on ABC2 though, was hoping it was going to be on ABC1, guess we won’t be finding out the ratings any time soon. I really do hope that it never comes down to ratings for this though as I think it’s paid for by us so shouldn’t really matter if it’s not bringing in big numbers.

  18. I was really impressed with this new show. It is a great alternative to the commerical networks. I am sure as the weeks progress chemistry will appear between the hosts and a nice relaxed hard news breakfast show will emerge. Good work ABC2….this has been a long time coming.

  19. The thing I found annoying it how Vanessa (weather) had to keep turning to face us, and then turn to the side and back again, meanwhile trying to remember what was on the autocue while she was turning.

  20. I always give these type of news shows a week or so to settle in I was particularly interested in where they would place the interviews from there radio stations also that they would have cameras in them. I didn’t watch all of it but the most I saw they didn’t use those resources. Guessing that is in the next couple of days. Not bad for the first show.

  21. I only saw the last ten minutes, but poor Barry was having trouble with the autocue, and he and Virginia had trouble making small talk. Not much chemistry there, made it a bit awkward. Still miles better than Sunrise and Today. Hooray for a proper news program at 9am too.

  22. I usually listen to Radio National breakfast as I’m getting ready for work, but i’m going to trial this show for a week and see how I like it. Quite liked thismorning’s show. And it certainly didn’t irritate me like Sunrise and Today do. Only problem was that I kept sitting down to watch it and ended up running late!

Leave a Reply