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Virginia Trioli to depart ABC News Breakfast

Virginia Trioli will leave ABC News Breakfast after just over 5 years.

2014-01-13_2349Virginia Trioli will leave ABC News Breakfast in March after just over 5 years.

Her replacement has not been announced.

Trioli will move to ABC’s Sydney radio programme AM, whose host -Tony Eastley- moves to ABC News 24 as a senior presenter.

Director of News Kate Torney said: “Tony Eastley is a great addition to the ABC News 24 team. He’ll bring 35 years of experience across almost every editorial and presenting role at the ABC. He’s one of our very best journalists and his addition to Australia’s most watched news channel is another investment in the strength of its coverage and its value to a growing audience. 2014 is going to be an exciting new chapter in the development of ABC News 24.

“For almost 50 years, AM has set the national agenda as Australia’s longest running and most respected radio program. With Virginia Trioli’s appointment, it begins its next phase of renewal. Virginia is a dynamic radio presenter and a formidable interviewer and her addition to one of the ABC’s strongest editorial teams will be a potent combination. Her rapport with early morning audiences following five years on television presenting ABC News Breakfast will now translate to almost 60 radio stations across ABC Local Radio.”

Trioli said: “It is a great honour to be asked to present the ABC’s flagship radio current affairs program, AM and to follow in the footsteps of my friend and colleague Tony Eastley. I must admit to mixed feelings, as I leave News Breakfast enormously proud of our five year-old program, the team and especially my colleague Michael Rowland, and our loyal, growing audience, and I thank them. Now that my body clock is permanently set to a 3am alarm, the move seems just right.”

Moving to Sydney also enables Trioli to join her husband Russell Skelton, who heads the ABC’s fact-checking unit.

She is currently on leave but will return later in January before the move in March.

This week and next week ABC News 24 is being presented from Sydney while a new set is being built in Melbourne.

Tony Eastley added: “I’ve absolutely loved my time at AM and working with a dedicated and talented crew led by the brilliant David Burgess – the programme’s EP. But new challenges beckon and I really want to be part of the ABC News 24 rolling news coverage. Hanging up the AM mic is going to be hard after ten years, but I shan’t miss those predawn starts!”

Meanwhile ABC News 24’s Scott Bevan will lead a new evening news broadcast as well as anchoring news specials and live broadcasts across ABC News 24 and ABC1. He will also anchor major news coverage on ABC News 24 and ABC1.

“I’m looking forward to returning to ABC News 24, and being part of the team that brings the news to, and talks with, Australians each evening. And I’m excited by my expanded presenting role with the network, telling stories about who we are and where we’re from as a nation. So I relish the prospect of being a busy boy in 2014!” he said.

11 Responses

  1. I’m actually going to miss her, I was not originally a fan of La Trioli but there is something about breakfast tv in particular, with how comfortable this viewer is with the affable and informative banter of that team. I like Michael immensely, so finding a replacement will be interesting. I guess he and Beverley have chemistry, but Paul and Bev do not, in my op. I did like Karina, but yes she is ensconsed in Qld.

  2. Catherine, Melissa Doyle should never have had to put up with anything related to her obvious demotion. It should’ve been the stone age blokes running Seven answering reasonable questions about Doyle’s treatment.

    Meanwhile, over at ABC News Breakfast, it was Virginia that has been there from the start while they kept changing her male co-hosts. Moving to AM is either a promotion or moving sideways, not a demotion. AM is one of the most respected & listened to radio programs’ in the country, broadcast on one of the highest rated radio networks’ in the country, ABC Local Radio.

  3. “Cost saving measure. Now they can get someone at half her rate.”
    She’s not leaving, just moving from TV to radio.
    Or does ABC pay double if you have to work in Melbourne?

  4. The only winners here are people who watch ABC News Breakfast. Never did get the whole “La Trioli” thing.

    Surely Karina Carvalho can slot straight back in?

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