''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian

breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

program, broadcast on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and currently hosted by Monique Wright and David Woiwod.

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 Chris Reason (born 1 October 1965) is a journalist, foreign correspondent and news anchor for the Seven Network Australia. He has been with the network for more than three decades, starting as Crime Reporter at Channel Seven in Brisbane i ...

and

Lisa Wilkinson Lisa Clare Wilkinson (Born 19 December 1959) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and magazine editor. Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, '' Today,'' with Karl Stefanovic (2007� ...

, 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 Sunday given families usually were out doing sport on Saturday. 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'' 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 initially temporarily replaced host

in 2006, but after improved ratings he was given the hosting position permanently. In 2007, Wilkinson moved to the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and 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 the five main free-to-air television ...

to host ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', and was replaced by

Samantha Armytage Samantha Armytage (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian journalist and television presenter. She was previously co-host of the Seven Network's breakfast television program ''Sunrise (Australian TV program), Sunrise'' from 2013 to 2021 alon ...

. 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 (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

'' 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'', which previously occupied the timeslot, immediately followed ''Weekend Sunrise'', until in 2012 it was permanently moved to 7Two, airing in the same timeslot as ''Weekend Sunrise''. The original Saturday team consisted of

co-hosting with Larry Emdur with Sarah Cumming 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 University, Harvard and Yale Uni ...

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 cancelled 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 the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

. ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

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

'' for a national network role, with

replacing her. Monique Wright 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 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, f ...

. The program included appearances from stars of ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''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 trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

'', '' My Kitchen Rules'' and '' Saturday Disney'', as well as performances from Samantha Jade 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) reco ...

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 politician who is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party and the member for Churchlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, serving in both roles since March ...

was announced as his replacement. In September 2019, Zempilas stepped down as regular host of ''Weekend Sunrise'', citing a desire to spend more time with his family in Perth.

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'', ...

was named as his replacement; he appeared as a regular co-presenter for the first time on 12 October. Simon Reeve made his last on air appearance on ''Weekend Sunrise'' in May 2020 before the Seven Network made him redundant in June 2020. Reeve would later sue the network over his axing. ''Weekend Sunrise'' moved to South Eveleigh on 29 July 2023, after the last broadcast in Martin Place on 23 July 2023. With this change, the show received a new logo. In November 2024,

announced he was leaving ''Weekend Sunrise'' to focus on family and pursue other opportunities. Doran’s final show was on 8 December 2024. US Bureau Chief David Woiwod was announced days later as the replacement of Doran as co-host. Woiwod's first show was on 14 December 2024.

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 presenters who have been fill-in hosts or co-hosts of ''Weekend Sunrise'' in recent times include Sally Bowrey, Edwina Bartholomew, Michael Usher, Angela Cox, Mark Beretta, Liam Tapper,

, Gemma Acton, Blake Johnson, Natarsha Belling and

.https://7news.com.au/sunrise/the-team Fill-in presenters for other roles, in order from most likely to be used to least likely to be used: *News: Natarsha Belling, Liam Tapper, Teegan Dolling, Amber Laidler and Amelia Brace. *Weather: Katie Brown, Sally Pearson, Sam Payne.

Previous hosts

Previous hosts of ''Weekend Sunrise'' include

, Andrew O'Keefe,

and

. 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 (born 4 December 1966) is an Australian journalist and news presenter. Career Ghidella's career in television began in the North Queensland region, as a reporter and presenter for North Queensland Television (now TNQ, 10 QLD) ...

presented the news from 2008 until 2010. Larry Emdur hosted ''Weekend Sunrise'' on Saturdays in 2010. Sarah Cumming previously presented the news on Saturday until she became the weather presenter on '' Seven News Sydney'' in 2011.

hosted the program from June 2007 until August 2013 before becoming co-presenter of ''

''.

Jessica Rowe Jessica June Rowe (born 22 June 1970) is an Australian former journalist, author and television presenter. She was the co-host of '' Studio 10'' on Network Ten until March 2018, and is Member of the Order of Australia for her mental health advo ...

presented the news from 2010 until 2013. Ryan Phelan presented sport throughout the first half of 2015 before Simon Reeve returned to his post following the axing of '' Million Dollar Minute''. 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, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

, ''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 New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(including ACT), Victoria,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

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

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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

Daylight Saving Time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

has the program delayed by one hour. The

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

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. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

has it delayed by 30 minutes all year around, and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

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. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

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 liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

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

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

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

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

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 File:Weekend Sunrise 2023 logo.png, 29 July 2023 – present

Theme song

''Weekend Sunrise'' used

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

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

MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...

'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. "Elect ...

" 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 Australian English-language television shows