The calls have been in place since April when the ratings declined from the 51,000 viewer debut and never reared their head again – Ch10 today announced that Breakfast will not return in 2013, and neither will their Morning News product.
After the $13m loss recorded this financial year it was never going to survive, even with Chairman Lachlan Murdoch’s reported assurance the team had 10 years to establish the product (boy, that was forgotten pretty quickly). It’s an ignominious end for the on-screen talent and production staff: the program showed a lot of promise though it never really connected with the audience. A lot of good people have now lost jobs with this decision, joining a growing and very elite list of Ten names like Helen Kapalos, Eddie Meyer & Mark Suleau. Ron Wilson had been with the network for 30 years, starting in 1982 on Good Morning Australia when it was a breakfast show(!).
The statement from the Network Ten spokesperson reads:
It is proposed that Breakfast and TEN Morning News will cease production on November 30. Breakfast television still represents an opportunity for TEN and we will return to the breakfast TV market at some point next year.
As a result of the changes Kathryn Robinson, Paul Henry and Ron Wilson will leave the network.
Magdalena Roze will remain with Ten.
Maybe the crew were not superficial enough for Aussie audiences . Maybe there is no room on TV for people who speak the truth with a little tongue in cheek, open nature. Must admit though , the mother of all tempests could be on it’s way but I’m too distracted to know. Will miss all.