About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

BBC Breakfast

Encyclopedia : B : BB : BBC : BBC Breakfast

 

BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme broadcast on BBC One and BBC News 24. It is presented live from Television Centre in White City, west London.

Contents

Background

Breakfast started on 2 October 2000 as a joint operation between BBC One and BBC News 24. Before 2000, BBC One and News 24 each had their own news programme at this time. From October 2000, Breakfast was simulcast on BBC One and News 24. As of April 2006, however, News 24 runs a sepearate news bulletin from 0830 onwards, when the tone on Breakfast shifts to arts, entertainment and cultural items including big name interviews which in 2006 have included Gene Pitney (shortly before his death), Reese Witherspoon and Cybill Shepherd. The BBC One programme finishes at 0915, but has been extended to 0930 for special outside brodcasts on a number of occasions http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/3463461.stm

Breakfast was the replacement for BBC One's Breakfast News which had started in 1989. This programme had had many presenters over the years, including Nicholas Witchell, Lawrie Mayer, Sophie Raworth, Justin Webb, Juliet Morris, Andrew Harvey, Noel Thompson and the late Jill Dando. News 24's presenters at this time had included Sarah Montague and Moira Stuart.

Before 1989, the programme was known as Breakfast Time. Its presenters included Frank Bough, Kirsty Wark, John Stapleton, Selina Scott and Sally Magnusson.

The programme celebrated its 20th anniversary on 17 January 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/2665859.stm

Today

In May 2006, Breakfast was given a new look; There is no longer a separate newsreader for the news summaries and the studio is fitted with large video walls, known as Barco screens providing different backdrops, graphics and still photograhs.

The programme has four main presenters. Dermot Murnaghan, who joined in September 2002 from ITN, presents the programme from Monday to Thursday, alongside producer-turned-presenter Sian Williams who became part of the Breakfast team in January 2001, and replaced Natasha Kaplinsky as weekday presenter in 2006. Bill Turnbull, main weekend presenter since 2001, presents the programme alongside Susanna Reid from Friday to Sunday, while Turnbull also regularly stands in for Murnaghan on the weekday editions. Kate Silverton is a regular stand-in presenter, while Charlie Stayt began presenting weekend editions of the programme in 2006.

Occasional presenters include Jane Hill, Simon McCoy and Michael Peschardt, who is the BBC's main Australia correspondent. Presenter Mishal Husain who presented regularly in 2004 and 2005-6, is currently on maternity leave.

Sport presenters are Chris Hollins (who presents each Monday-Thursday and occasional Fridays), Sue Thearle (presents most Fridays and occasionally at weekends) and Mike Bushell (presents every Saturday and some Sundays). Various other News 24 sport presenters fill the role on Sundays. Sport updates are at 06.10, 06.35, 07.35 and 08.35.

Breakfast's business presenter is Declan Curry, who presents business updates at 06.10, 06.25, 06.50, 07.25, 07.55 and 08.25. During his absence his role is usually filled by Paddy O'Connell (formerly of BBC Three News), or occasionally Susannah Streeter (Breakfast's business reporter), or BBC Business presenters Julia Caesar or Sally Bundock.

Weather presenters are Carol Kirkwood, Helen Willetts (both of whom present on Mondays-Thursdays on alternate fortnights), Louise Lear and Matt Taylor (who both present on Fridays and weekends). The weather is given at 15 and 45 minutes past each hour throughout the programme. On weekdays the weather is normally presented from the Blue Peter Garden, from the roof of Television Centre or out on location, often when the weather is in the news, including the 2006 drought in southern England.

Reporters

The programme has a team of reporters permanently assigned to Breakfast. They cover a range of stories nationally and internationally including the 2004 hurricane in Grenada[link] and the 2004 tsunami [link].

In 2006, the dedicated team includes Julia Botfield[link], Sarah Campbell[link] and Graham Satchell[link]

Reporters work on outside broadcasts at home and abroad presenting live interviews, and coverage from news and feature stories. They're also reporters on news stories and features providing the voice or commentary to a video taped report - although many of these stories are now edited and transmitted using digital technology .

Several other reporters cover specialist areas, and they work for all BBC News programmes.

Specials

In 2003, the Breakfast production team was commissioned by BBC One to make a week long series called The Day Team From Chatsworth presented by Nicki Chapman, and presenter of the BBC's Countryfile programme, John Craven. It it took a behind the scenes look at the stately home Chatsworth House [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/3189908.stm and was broadcast separately on BBC One at 1030 in the morning.

From 0830, when Breakfast is only transmitted live on BBC One, the tone of the programme shifts. There is a sports bulletin followed by between three and five items that are mainly arts, entertainment or cultural in nature and in 2006, have included interviews with Halle Berry[link], Sir Michael Caine [link] and Reese Witherspoon [link]. This provides a link to the daytime schedule, via the daytime controller and BBC One Controller Peter Fincham.

The relationship between the three BBC departments: television news programmes, daytime and the BBC One controller has led to a number of guest, or celebrity presenters being used on Breakfast to present themed days or weeks, even though some have never been mainstream news reporters or presenters. Many of these have seen the programme extended to 0930:

Former presenters

Past occasional presenters have included: Michael Buerk, Maxine Mawhinney and Emily Maitlis.

Former news presenters include: Asad Ahmad (now of BBC London), Emma Howard, Luisa Baldini (BBC reporter), Gillian Joseph (now with Sky News), Louisa Preston (BBC London) and Suzanne Virdee (BBC Midlands Today).

Former sports presenters include Mary Rhodes, who presented the sport during 2003-4 while Sue Thearle was on maternity leave. Hazel Irvine has also stood in on the sports news.

Former business presenters include Tanya Beckett and Sara Coburn. Former Breakfast reporter Max Foster also often presented the business summaries before moving to CNN.

Former weather presenters include Isobel Lang and Sarah Wilmshurst.

Awards

Spoofs

See also

References

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: