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Axed: Breakfast, TEN Morning News.

TEN Morning News and Breakfast to end on November 30.

Breaking News: TEN has axed both Breakfast and TEN Morning News, to end on November 30th.

A Network TEN spokesperson told TV Tonight, “TEN Morning News and Breakfast staff were told this morning that it is planned to stop production of both programs on November 30.

“The Breakfast program has not resonated with viewers. But breakfast television still represents an opportunity for TEN and we will return to the breakfast TV market at some point next year.”

The news follows dire ratings, at best averaging 50,000, and a commitment that the network was in “for the long haul.” It also belies confirmation at TEN’s 2013 programming launch last month that the show would return.

Since Breakfast launched in February much has been made of Paul Henry’s million dollar contract contrasting with the low numbers, while the network continues to cut costs elsewhere.

Last week TEN News staff were given their marching orders after the network reportedly failed to receive enough voluntary redundancies. The most profile of these so far has been Melbourne news presenter Helen Kapalos.

Breakfast had also lost Andrew Rochford earlier in the year and seen the resignation of its producer Majella Wiemers.

The news first broke on Twitter via Peter Ford, but was also tipped by an insider “francismckonkey” here on Saturday.

Paul Henry and Kathryn Robinson are confirmed to leave TEN but Magdalena Roze will remain.

87 Responses

  1. A great day for television – this shows that the public will reject poor concepts and demand some level of quality.

    With solid news/current affairs programs on three of the primary networks in that timeslot Ten need to do something compltely different toe stablish a point of difference – something so radical that the mere thought of it leaves the population breathless with anticipation.

    What this could be I don’t know but it is the only way to go.

  2. Got to put up with JT/GD presenting from the middle of nowhere with a 20 second flyaround in 2013. TEN’s weather was informative and in-depth and a great alternatives for those wanting to know the weather in each capital city.

  3. Breakfast i can understand but TEN Morning News? Wow that is just crazy. TEN have decided News isn’t working so its the one to go? God they are even bigger morons than i thought. Look forward to 4th place in 2013 TEN. Have a good life.

  4. What on earth were Ten thinking bringing Paul Henry (a Kiwi) in to front Breakfast? They already have great local presenters like Carrie Bickmore, Charlie Pickering etc who could of fronted it!

  5. Not a moment too soon.

    @smit0847 could not disagree more regarding Hamish MacDonald. His Assange & Bikie Wars specials were some of the most self absorbed pieces of sensationalised journalism that has graced the screens in a very long time. He is way too caught up in his own hype.

  6. They should never have hired Paul Henry. what on earth were they thinking? Everyone said it was a bad idea, not one person commented that they liked him, surely they should have listened. Breakfast may just have done better had Henry not been hired. Turned me off even trying it.

  7. What is it about ten, that they don’t just make bad shows a lot of the time, with these bad celebrities who always have the stare of a stunned mullet when their picutre is taken, but they always make bad shows all the time with bad celebrities who always have the stare of a stunned mullet when their picture is taken …. How many programmes does this make it axed over the past five years? Ive lost count …..

  8. Is this some sort of prelude to a ” closing down” event? Why would any advertiser with a functioning brain cell, trust any of their dollars $$$$ to channel 10 (MC excepted)……seriously…..

  9. @sherlock Please do not suggest such cost saving ideas to network Ten, as I can see it now, 8 weeks of a diffrent movie each day, then repeated in a different order for the rest of the year, and when a friday movie is repeated on the following monday, they would claim it as being ‘fast tracked’ from only last friday!

  10. The only time I’ve ever watched any breakfast program is when I’m in a hotel/motel room – apart from that, never.

    Surely there are better things to do in the morning than watching television, e.g. listening to the radio!

    So I don’t care one way or another about this story, although I am very sorry for the staff involved.

    I worked at TEN at its very beginning in 1964, we had a huge amount of fun – what a sad place it must be now.

  11. @advoc8 – those presenters were just a suggestion. There is a lot of undereused talent at Ten.

    I personally think Hamish McDonald is the fastest rising TV journo in the country right now – he’s attractive, articulate, youthful but not too young, charming, foreign enough to be unique but not foreign enough to alienate people like Paul Henry was. Putting him with Sandra Sully may give rise to a bit of a Mum vibe like Stefanovic and Grimshaw together but if Hamish isn’t utilised the other channels will want him – I could easily see him hosting Sunday Night.
    Maybe Natasha Belling would be a better fit as a co-anchor. I agree they need younger presenters – watching Kochie asks DJ David Guetta if ‘disco was back so he could get out his flared pants’ was excruciating.

    Keep Magdalena and she is young but has cred but limit weather to 60 seconds every 5 mins – most people only want to know that days forecast for their city – any longer spent on weather and its quicker to look it up on your smartphone. Dont think experience equals popularity on a youth network like Ten – entertainment should be by someone like Fuzzy, not Angela Bishop. Sport should be by a popular recently retired sportsperson like an Olympic swimmer or someone relevant.

    I think a morning Project is a good idea but I think it should be a couch rather than a panel and should be more newsier and less comedy – people want the news quickly before going to work – they dont want to sit back, unwind and laugh to funny youtube vids. The on-air graphics could be a lot slicker and more youthful – ‘weather in 60 seconds’, ‘we go live to Parliament House in 4 minutes for PM’s reaction’ etc – young people crave information quickly – they dont care for banter between hosts.

  12. Channel 7 and 9 may have seen their capital value halve but they are at least sort of profitable with the subsidises from the Government.

    7 and 9 are coping exactly what the other one is doing, and with 10’s model failing they tried to do the same thing and had an epic fails at Breakfast, Evenings and Nights.

    10 are now going to have to find a whole new format for commercial FTA TV that works, or disappear. Their 2013 line-up doesn’t look like it can do anything other than lose money at a slower rate.

  13. I trust this decision to axe the show has something to do with the most cost effective way of finishing Henry’s million dollar contract. In this multi channel world – Ten need to have a Breakfast Program. Kids shows don’t cut it. Ten needs to show it is a serious player and can build a network off a breakfast show…Like they did in the 80’s and Seven did in the 90’s. Let’s hope for the production staff’s sake they keep their commitment and introduce a new format early in 2013. Point of difference – 1. A set that is interesting (like CBS morning show) and get rid of all those bright candy colours…2 Format that is not stiff (ABC) and not fluff(Seven, Nine) but in the middle…3 Hosts that we can relate to like Natasa Beling and Andrew Rockford.

    Keep the weather reports. credibility here is a point of difference

    You know – It aint rocket science.

    Ten need to jump on it and get it happening ASAP. It’s their last chance!

  14. Thank God!!
    Very good decision, however, it shouldnt have happened in the first place!
    They now have to start from scratch.
    Even though it had a point of difference, it wasnt enough different.

    Oh yeh, and this is my song to Paul Henry:
    “Na na na na…na na na na… Hey hey hey…..Goodbye” lol

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