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“To see black faces on television, nothing better brother”

Here's how NITV awakened to Australia's first ever Indigenous breakfast show.

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NITV this morning broadcast Australia’s first ever Indigenous breakfast show, Big Mob Brekky.

Live from Taronga Zoo, it was a humble but important start for the show at 7:30am.

Hosts Shahni Wellington & Ryan Liddle were seated on stools with hand mikes with no set, but an inviting Sydney backdrop (at least if the weather keeps up).

The show began with Rachel Hocking getting a Welcome to Country from Gai-Mariagal Elder Uncle Dennis Foley.

A quick news break included Joe Biden’s win, the lessening of Victorian restrictions (“A shout out to all you mob down there”), NAIDOC Week light show in Canberra and national weather. Darwin was set for “a stinker as usual.”

Next was a cross to Canberra to hear from NAIDOC chair and The Point co-host John Paul Janke, followed by a comedy sketch, My NAIDOC Awards with Luke Carroll.

Hip hop artist Rhyan “Dobby” Clapham, who recorded “I Can’t Breathe,” was next for an interview, then cooking with Steve Mungindi from IndigiGrow.

But it was Danny Rennie station manager from First Nation Media Partners 98.9FM who summed things up best, during a cross to Brisbane with NITV’s Douglas Smith.

“It’s about time we had something to step up to those other commercial breakfast shows. To see black faces on television, nothing better brother,” said Rennie.

He added, “It’s good for young people to have aspirations to see Blackfellas on TV, particularly in those morning spots that the mob are using to tune into TV to find out all the latest news. Particularly in a week like NAIDOC, it’s important.”

The first ad break didn’t come until 7:55am followed by another news & weather update (this reallyu needs to vary from the first news break).

Singer Emma Donovan followed, and was asked “What’s your Big Mob Brekky?”

“I go hard for Weetbix,” she replied. “Porridge for mum, we don’t get too flash, maybe on a Saturday.”

Another comedy sketch Wellness with Nunga Gurur Lainey was followed by a second ad break, more cooking in Mungin with Steve & Clay, back to hip hop act Dobby, a cross to Alice Springs NAIDOC Chair Catherine Satour  and a wrapping things up with a song by Emma Donovan.

There were a few minor timing issues related to links (pauses, talking over one another) but it’s early days for the low budget show. The fact it is on the air for NAIDOC is the more important point.

Tomorrow the show features Mitch Tambo, Ursula Yovich & Ernie Dingo, and it runs 7:30am weekdays until Friday.

2 Responses

  1. I’m neither indigenous nor have any sort of connection to the culture but I watched the first episode today just to listen and perhaps learn about how people in the culture, as well as to see how it differed from the usual breakie offerings. I hope more of us non-indigenous folk will watch this show as I feel as though it has a lot of understanding to offer.

  2. The production is exceptionally good and they have done a great job with it so far. I think it’s important to have a show like this permanently. I can see this having good appeal with the broader community beyond Indigenous Australia. I’m aware that one of the issues would be costs and funding, an issue that affected Marngrook Footy Show, one of NITV’s more popular programs.

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