I would have to agree with all the comments made. There was so much promise with Daybreak when it launched but for whatever reason they seem to be going back to the old 2006/7 GMTV format. Even though I like the Daybreak team (even though Christine presents better with Dan) they've reverted back to the lightweight / showbiz features that led to GMTV's demise. But I think Daybreak can and should improve. The reason why I say that is when they covered the Japan earthquake the weekend after they demonstrated they can cover big news events. I was surprised with the quality of coverage and proved to me if they get the priorities right they can produce quality breakfast programming. The main reason why BBC Breakfast wins in the breakfast ratings is that most people will watch on average 15 minutes to catch the main headlines. As forum member's have quite rightly said after 20 minutes past the hour, the format is weak and incoherent. They should get Adrian or Christine to introduce the main headline TOTH then handover to Tasmin. I like In the Mix but they need to focus on news much more.
I would have to agree with all the comments made. There was so much promise with Daybreak when it launched but for whatever reason they seem to be going back to the old 2006/7 GMTV format. Even though I like the Daybreak team (even though Christine presents better with Dan) they've reverted back to the lightweight / showbiz features that led to GMTV's demise. But I think Daybreak can and should improve. The reason why I say that is when they covered the Japan earthquake the weekend after they demonstrated they can cover big news events. I was surprised with the quality of coverage and proved to me if they get the priorities right they can produce quality breakfast programming. The main reason why BBC Breakfast wins in the breakfast ratings is that most people will watch on average 15 minutes to catch the main headlines. As forum member's have quite rightly said after 20 minutes past the hour, the format is weak and incoherent. They should get Adrian or Christine to introduce the main headline TOTH then handover to Tasmin. I like In the Mix but they need to focus on news much more.
The basic format is OK in half hour cycles but they pack too much into the first half hour meaning that after the half past the hour news bulletins, they don't really know what to do with themselves and it shows. Each half hour, the basic format should be headlines, news, sport, regional news (with Tasmin handing over, that worked a lot better on GMTV) at quarter past and 'in the mix' at quarter to, followed by headlines, an innane feature/interview and finally the weather.
I think scrapping Tasmin could be a good idea for the show... firstly, although she's improved she has a tendency to fluff up the simplest of words, and would be better off for all concerned back on 60 seconds, maybe they could give her the entertainment news on ITV2?
But secondly, if there was no news presenter, it would be far easier for the viewer to identify Adrian and Christine with the more serious side of the programme as it would be them introducing the top story and going through the morning's headlines. Even if only the first part of the hour until the regional news is really newsy. Breakfast works fine without a news presenter (although Big Moira is a legend!), so I don't really see why Daybreak needs Tasmin.
Their pathetic 'Headlines' updates really need to be improved, and they should also insert regional news in at 6.45 and 7.45 so it's every half hour, matching Breakfast. 2 minutes isnt much to find, especially when loads of Daybreak in the back half hours is dancing giraffes and flying penguins.
I really don't think it would be hard to make Daybreak seem more newsy, even if it didn't involve that many changes being made.
Ditching the newsreader completely wouldn't be a good move but Tasmin obviously isn't suited to being the main newsreader. She'd be better as a reporter or doing showbiz and/or sports. Kate Garraway has a very prominent role on Daybreak and when shes allowed to be she is a very good journalist. Using her to front the news coverage along with any two way interviews would bring some much needed gravitas to the news output.
I can see what ITV were trying to achieve by hiring Tasmin but it hasn't quite worked in the way that they hoped, they should have opted for Georgie Thompson instead who would have the desired effect they wanted from Tasmin.
Sian leaving will not affect Breakfast. The programme is bigger than the presenters which is where Daybreak went wrong - making the presenters bigger than the show itself. Everyone thought the One Show would suffer when Adrian and Christine left, but it didn't.
Daybreak's ratings were at 700,000 yesterday, BBC Breakfast on 1.6million. While Daybreak has in the last few months had 900,000, its worrying when it can just drop.
What Ian isn't really talking about is the content, hes not even saying theres changes to be made, it sounds more like 'if you dont like it, don't watch' which isnt very helpful at all. Watching this morning, the problem for me is how the main presenters (today, Dan and Christine) don't even acknowledge the top story. They mention it for about 3 seconds at the TOTH, and again in the headlines at :45, but that's it.
To give them credit, they did talk about counterfeit drugs with Dr. Hillary and a guest, but that was the only 'news' item that they covered, the rest was a dog wearing glasses, Rhod Gilbert, and a woman who decided to make a tea business. Maybe the last two you can get away with, but it still seems so strange how the main presenters don't go into more depth with regards to the top story - even GMTV did that! Theres no gravitas to the show at all, and Tasmin's bulletins have been shorter lately, particularly the :30 one, which today only lasted two minutes.
I honestly don't think BBC Breakfast moving to Salford will make a whole lot of difference. It seems that audiences dont care about the studio or presenters, but about content. Breakfast will obviously go down the route of having a guest in London and talking to them that way. Half of the audience won't even notice! However it would be the perfect oppourtunity for Daybreak to get MPs in, various political guests which Breakfast won't be able to talk to in the same manner given that they'll be up North.
Leading on from the above post, I wouldn't be surprised if the bulk of BBC Breakfast came from Salford from 6-8.30am, with a showbiz based show at 8.30am meaning they
can
do the interviews afterall. The prospect of the BBC directly rivalling Daybreak and Lorraine is very worrying, not to mention that there are rumours BBC Breakfast will come from a studio with a window overlooking Salford Quays (a much nicer view than Thames/St Pauls), there goes one of Daybreak's USPs.
I agree with a lot of what the editor wrote about how breakfast shows are notorious for getting off to a bad start, and as he says himself this is usually acknowledged and a revamp follows within 6 months including new presenters, new set and new format. But he doesn't seem to see the blindingly obvious thing to do, and it seems they are perservering with the current format. If it doesn't work now, then it probably isn't going to work in the future. The format is very similar to RI:SE mk2 which didn't work for a reason.
Of course one way for them to artificially boost the ratings and save them a bit of face, whilst getting an average of about 1m in the process is to axe the first hour and air from 7-8.30am, dumping ITV News or even CITV from 6-7am. In terms of ratings, it is the 6am hour that is the least watched by quite some margin and they don't advertise much, so it is somewhat of a pointless exercise. Kids TV could get them a similar sized audience for much cheaper (around 200-300k).
Yesterday I reverted to putting Daybreak on as I couldn't cope with the music Scott Mills was playing yesterday morning (must be getting old!) and was in amazement of the weather presenter they had one... it was like watching Cbeebies weather. Telling me I may not like the rain but my plants need them and I may get scared by thunder but there was nothing to worry about, followed be a strange pause.