''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian

breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...

program, broadcast on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

and currently hosted by

Monique Wright Monique Wright (born 18 May 1973) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Wright is currently co-host of ''Weekend Sunrise''.

and

Matt Doran Matthew James Doran (born 30 March 1976) is an Australian television and film actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Damian Roberts in the Australian soap ''Home and Away'' from 1991 to 1996, "Mouse" in the 1999 film ''The Matrix'', ...

History

In 2005 the

replaced its struggling Sunday morning program ''Sunday Sunrise'' with a program called ''Weekend Sunrise'', as an extension of the weekday brand. It originally was an hour-long (8 am – 9 am). Hosted by Chris Reason and

Lisa Wilkinson Lisa Wilkinson (born 19 December 1959) is an Australian television presenter and journalist. Wilkinson currently narrates ''Ambulance Australia'' and has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, ''Today,'' with K ...

, the program was successful and various critiques at the time called for the program to be lengthened to two hours (7:00 am – 9:00 am) and be extended to Saturday mornings as well as Sunday. Head of Morning TV’s Adam Boland’s intention was always to have the show across both days (hence the name), but news boss Peter Meakin talked him into just starting with Sundays given families usually were usually out doing sport on Saturdays. In 2006, ''Weekend Sunrise'' was extended from an hour to a two-hour show, running every Sunday from 8 am till 10 am. When ''

Sportsworld ''Sportsworld'' (also known as ''NBC SportsWorld'') is an American sports anthology television program which aired on NBC on Saturday afternoons from 1978 to 1994. Format The program presented a wide variety of lower-profile and offbeat sporting ...

'' returned for the football season ''Weekend Sunrise'' settled into a 90-minute format, 8:00 am – 9:30 am. After ''Sportsworld's'' series concluded, the show returned to a two-hour format.

Andrew O'Keefe Andrew Patrick O'Keefe AM (born 1 October 1971) is an Australian former television presenter and lawyer. He is best known for being the host of the game shows ''Deal or No Deal'' and '' The Chase Australia''. He was also the co-host of '' Wee ...

initially temporarily replaced host Chris Reason in 2006, but after improved ratings he was given the hosting position permanently. In 2007, Wilkinson moved to the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

to host ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', and was replaced by Samantha Armytage. In 2008, ''Weekend Sunrise'' moved their start time 30 minutes earlier to 7:30 am, to match the new start time of Nine's ''

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sund ...

'' program. The program continued to run through to 10:00 am, meaning the program had a two-and-a-half-hour running time. In 2009, the program's start time was moved even earlier. Originally, it was announced that ''Today on Sunday'' (now ''Weekend Today''), the replacement the long-running Nine's ''Sunday'', would run from 7:30 to 9:00 am. But this was changed on 28 January 2009 to 7:00 am to 9:00 am. As result, Seven announced that ''Weekend Sunrise'' would also commence at 7:00 am and run through to 10:00 am, meaning the program would go for three hours, the same as the weekday version of ''Sunrise''. On 13 February 2010, Boland got his wish as Seven announced that ''Weekend Sunrise'' would extend to Saturdays to compete against ''Weekend Today''. The Saturday edition airs in the same time slot as ''Weekend Today'', i.e. 7:00 am – 10:00 am. ''

Saturday Disney ''Saturday Disney'' is a long running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aire ...

'', which previously occupied the timeslot, immediately followed ''Weekend Sunrise'', until in 2012 it was permanently moved to 7Two, airing in the same time as ''Weekend Sunrise''. The original Saturday team consisted of Samantha Armytage co-hosting with Larry Emdur with

Sarah Cumming Sarah Cumming is an Australian journalist. Career Cumming completed her Journalism degree at the University of South Australia, where she majored in International Relations. She covered many stories and gained a wealth of experience at a number ...

presenting the news, Simon Reeve presenting sport and

James Tobin James Tobin (March 5, 1918 – March 11, 2002) was an American economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and taught at Harvard and Yale Universities. He ...

presenting the weather. In November 2011, Adam Boland was appointed executive producer of the program. Boland overhauled the program introducing a new format, a number of new segments and new regulars. These changes were scheduled to introduced on 5 November 2011, however due an apparent server crash, the program was canceled at the last minute. The relaunch took place the following day as a result. In September 2012, executive producer Adam Boland announced that the show would extend to three hours on Saturday from October. Boland finished with the

in February 2013 to later join

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fiv ...

. ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'' executive producer Michael Pell replaced Boland. In June 2013, Melissa Doyle announced that she would be leaving ''

'' for a national network role, with Samantha Armytage replacing her.

Monique Wright Monique Wright (born 18 May 1973) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Wright is currently co-host of ''Weekend Sunrise''.

initially replaced Armytage on ''Weekend Sunrise'', but it was not until February 2014 in which Wright was made a permanent co-host on the show. In February 2016, Angela Cox joined and filled-in for

Monique Wright Monique Wright (born 18 May 1973) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Wright is currently co-host of ''Weekend Sunrise''.

as co-host of the show whilst she was on maternity leave. At the same time, Sally Bowrey joined the show as entertainment and social media presenter. On 4 March 2016, ''Weekend Sunrise'' held a Parathon, to raise funds to send athletes to the

2016 Paralympic Games The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

. The program included appearances from stars of ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...

'', ''

My Kitchen Rules ''My Kitchen Rules'' (often abbreviated as ''MKR'') is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The show is currently hosted and judged by chef Manu Feildel, who has appeared in every season of the ...

'' and ''

'', as well as performances from

Samantha Jade Samantha Jade Gibbs (born 18 April 1987) is an Australian singer and songwriter. She has written tracks for artists including JoJo and Ashley Tisdale. In 2012, Jade won the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia'', the first woman to win ...

and

Russell Morris Russell Norman Morris (born 31 July 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) recog ...

and was extended to midday. It raised over $1.6 million. In December 2016, Angela Cox returned to ''Weekend Sunrise'' to cover news whilst Sally Bowrey was on maternity leave. In July 2017, Bowrey returned to the show as news presenter. In December 2017, after twelve years in the role, O'Keefe resigned, citing his desire to spend more time with his family on weekends.

Basil Zempilas Basil Anthony Zempilas (born 30 July 1971) is an Australian television and radio presenter, sports commentator and politician based in Perth, Western Australia. Zempilas presented sport until 2022 on '' Seven News Perth'', Monday to Thursday and ...

was announced as his replacement. In September 2019, Zempilas announced that he will step down as regular host of ''Weekend Sunrise'', citing a desire to spend more time with his family, but will still appear on the show intermittently as a summer and fill-in presenter whenever required. In October 2019, it was announced that

would replace Zempilas on the show from 12 October. Simon Reeve made his last on air appearance on ''Weekend Sunrise'' in May 2020 before Seven made him redundant in June 2020. Reeve would later sue Seven over his axing.

Format

Similar to ''

'', ''Weekend Sunrise'' blends a mixture of news every thirty minutes, interviews and light-hearted feature pieces into three hours each morning. Occasionally, ''Weekend Sunrise'' may present the show from other locations, however, unlike ''

'', this is less common.

News

As with ''

'', national news updates are provided at the half-hour mark, followed by a summary of overnight sport and weather.

Hosts

Current fill-in presenters that have recently hosted or co-hosted ''Weekend Sunrise'' include Kylie Gillies,

Mark Beretta Mark Beretta (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian journalist, best known as a sports reporter on Seven Network program ''Sunrise''. In July 2008, Beretta began presenting ''Seven Early News'' sport alongside Natalie Barr at 5.30 am, which l ...

, Larry Emdur,

Mike Amor Mike Amor is an Australian journalist and news presenter. Amor is currently the weekend presenter of ''Seven News Melbourne'' with Rebecca Maddern and presents ''Seven Afternoon News'' in Melbourne. Previously, he was the network's US Bureau ...

, Mark Riley, Sally Bowrey, Angela Cox,

Edwina Bartholomew Edwina Louise Christie Bartholomew (born 5 July 1983) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. Bartholomew is currently news presenter on the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise''. She has previously been a co-ho ...

Natarsha Belling Natarsha Belling (born 29 May 1970) is an Australian journalist. Belling has previously worked at Network 10 as a television presenter, news presenter and reporter. She spent over two decades with the company until being made redundant in Aug ...

, Chris Reason, Gemma Acton,

Michael Usher Michael Usher is an Australian television presenter and reporter. Usher presents ''Seven News Sydney'' on Friday and Saturday with Angela Cox and ''The Latest: Seven News''. Career Usher graduated from All Saints' College, Perth in 1987. He we ...

and

Matt Shirvington Matt Shirvington (born 25 October 1978) is an Australian athlete and television presenter who held the Australian 100m national sprint title from 1998 to 2002. Shirvington is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time. He qualified for ...

. *Fill-in news & sport presenters:

and

Angie Asimus Angie Asimus (born 12 August 1985) is a news presenter and journalist. Asimus is currently a weather presenter on '' Seven News Sydney'' and presents '' Seven News at 5.'' Career Asimus was originally from Gundagai (in rural New South Wales) ...

. *Fill-in weather presenters: Paul Burt. Other Seven presenters who have either filled in or presented ''Weekend Sunrise'' in the past include Matt White,

, Denham Hitchcock, Jessica Rowe, Andrew Rochford,

Kellie Sloane Kellie Anne Sloane (5 January 1973) is an Australian political candidate, former charity CEO and television journalist. Sloane was a presenter on the Nine Network's ''Nightline'', and was also briefly an interim co-host of ''Today'' in 2007. ...

Rebecca Maddern Rebecca Maddern (born 6 August 1977) is an Australian television presenter and journalist. Maddern is currently weekend presenter of ''Seven News Melbourne'' with Mike Amor and presents ''Seven Afternoon News'' in Melbourne. She has worked at ...

Natalie Barr Natalie Anne Barr (born 19 March 1968) is an Australian journalist, news presenter and television presenter. Barr is currently co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise'' alongside David Koch. She was previously new ...

Rahni Sadler Rahni Sadler ( Sydney, June 24, 1972), is an Australian television reporter. Career Sadler first worked in media as a teen model for Chadwick Model Management. Her career focus though, was journalism. After doing work experience in radio, TV ...

Ryan Phelan Ryan Phelan is an Australian television journalist, media personality and presenter. Phelan has previously presented news updates on ''The Morning Show'' and was co-host of '' The Daily Edition''. Career Phelan’s television career starte ...

, Ben Davis, Simon Reeve, Jillian Whiting, Jim Wilson and

Ben Damon Ben Damon (born 24 October 1980) is an Australian journalist, TV presenter and screenwriter/director. Damon is a TV host who has presented on Foxtel's Olympic coverage, '' Sunrise'', ''Weekend Today'', Sky News Australia, Sky Racing and Fox S ...

, amongst others.

Previous hosts

Previous hosts of ''Weekend Sunrise'' include Chris Reason,

and Samantha Armytage. Kylie Gillies was the original sports presenter until she moved to '' The Morning Show'' and Talitha Cummins presented the news from June 2007 until July 2008.

Sharyn Ghidella Sharyn Ghidella is an Australian journalist and news presenter. Ghidella currently presents '' Seven News Brisbane'' with Max Futcher from Monday to Friday.

presented the news from 2008 until 2010. Larry Emdur hosted ''Weekend Sunrise'' on Saturdays in 2010.

previously presented the news on Saturday until she became the weather presenter on '' Seven News Sydney'' in 2011. Samantha Armytage hosted the program from June 2007 until August 2013 before becoming co-presenter of ''

''. Jessica Rowe presented the news from 2010 until 2013.

presented sport throughout the first half of 2015 before Simon Reeve returned to his post following the axing of ''

Million Dollar Minute ''Million Dollar Minute'' is an Australian quiz show which aired on the Seven Network. It premiered on 16 September 2013. The show was originally hosted by Grant Denyer, and later by Simon Reeve, and aired at 5:30 pm on weeknights. The show wa ...

''. Talitha Cummins presented the news from 2013 until 2016. Cummins was later dismissed from the

whilst she was on maternity leave; Sally Bowrey later replaced her.

Regulars

Broadcasting

Because Australia has more than one

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

, ''Weekend Sunrise'' is not broadcast live to all of Australia, it is instead

broadcast delay In radio and television, broadcast delay is an intentional delay when broadcasting live material, technically referred to as a deferred live. Such a delay may be to prevent mistakes or unacceptable content from being broadcast. Longer delays las ...

ed.

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(including ACT),

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

have ''Weekend Sunrise'' broadcast live all year round,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

has ''Sunrise'' broadcast live in wintertime, but during

Daylight Saving Time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

has the program delayed by one hour. The

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

has ''Weekend Sunrise'' delayed 30 minutes during winter and 1 hour and 30 minutes during daylight saving in Sydney.

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

has it delayed by 30 minutes all year around, and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

has it delayed by 2 hours in wintertime and by 3 hours during daylight saving in Sydney. Occasionally, broadcasts of ''Weekend Sunrise'' are altered during special circumstances. On the morning of 17 July 2010, ''Weekend Sunrise'' was extended well past 9am continuing into 1pm when

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

announced that Australia would be heading to the polls on 21 August. When ''Weekend Sunrise'' was covering the Victorian bushfires in February 2009, the show extended its coverage until 11am, with the extra hour dedicated to the events occurring in Victoria. Neither ''

'' nor ''Weekend Sunrise'' air on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

. Between 2007 and 2014, when Seven had the telecasting rights to the

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

, ''Weekend Sunrise'' did not air on the day of the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

Logos

File:Weekend Sunrise (2005 television show) logo (2010-2016).png, 25 January 2010 – 31 January 2016 File:Weekend_Sunrise_Logo.png, 31 January 2016 – 8 August 2021

Theme song

''Weekend Sunrise'' used

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band we ...

's " (Reach Up for the) Sunrise" as its theme song until 2010 when

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists o ...

's "

Electric Feel "Electric Feel" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their debut studio album '' Oracular Spectacular'' (2007) on June 23, 2008. The single was released as a 7" and CD single, and later on 12" vinyl. "Elec ...

" replaced it. In November 2011, " (Reach Up for the) Sunrise" was reinstated as the theme song.

References

External links

* * {{AustralianWeekendBreakfastShows Australian television news shows * Television shows set in Sydney 2005 Australian television series debuts 2010s Australian television series English-language television shows

History

Format

News

Hosts

Previous hosts

Regulars

Broadcasting

Logos

Theme song

See also

References

External links