Daybreak - the launch onwards

Daily Mail tipping Gethin Jones for the role: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2124718/Gethin-Jones-tipped-join-Lorraine-Kelly-Daybreak-sofa.html

I'm not really believing this, firstly, there's no new information in this article, it's just last week's Mirror article re-worded. Secondly, they say that Gethin screen tested with Lorraine last week. I am not saying its not possible that Lorraine was not involved in the screen test but she is currently on sick leave with her leg injury. From her recent tweets she's still at home in Dundee and is not back at work until 26th April.

If they give the job to Gethin then they're just back to square one. The new editor has wanted more emphasis on news, the whole idea of axing Adrian & Christine. I know Lorraine is a journalist and anchored TVAM and GMTV for years but I'm not sure she will have the right gravitas for serious stories and may be lacking 'real' interview skills. Can you really picture these two interviewing the Prime Minister in the middle of a UK crisis?

I've always backed Helen for a bigger role somewhere in ITV Breakfast instead of just seeming to float about and covering people but after this morning I'm not so sure she'd be suitable. I caught a bit because I knew she was presenting and although she is entitled to her opinion and its one that I agree with, if she can't remain impartial towards a 15 year old girl then shes got no chance on bigger stories. I thought she was out of order.

No, it was their permanant home until they got moved for the launch of Daybreak.

GMTV moved out of their original studio (5?) a few months before Daybreak launched to allow AJ Sport to take it over. This is why for the last few months GMTV came from a temporary studio

Maybe they'll move back to studio 7, it is a great studio for a foreign audience. I suppose it depends which is determined more rentable on an ad-hoc basis: studio 5 or studio 7

ooops, duplicate post

No, he wants to target to hassled mums and I don't think the two always go hand in hand.

I agree that Gethin is not right for the role, I think someone like Matt Barbet is more suitable, providing that him and Lorraine have on-screen chemistry. David Kermode worked with Matt on CH5 news so I imagine he rates him.

Will be interesting to see what happens, I'm still hoping we do not have to wait until September for the relaunch though.

Day one opening was pre-rec'd IIRC but after that it has always been live, apart from pre-recorded days like this coming Good Friday.

Must admit feel slightly (not v much though) sorry for Kate and Dan in all this

I absolutely agree I do not think that Gethin would be the right candidate for the job. If they decided to appoint him anchor alongside Lorraine then as you say they would be back to square one. You always's have to take these articles with a pinch of salt. As Jamesrl quite rightly says, someone like Matt Barbet would be the best candidate to co-present the programme given his journalistic experience with BBC news, BBC Breakfast and Five News. My main concern isn't that Lorraine wouldn't have gravitas because I think she would. Even if she had good chemistry with Gethin it would be a very unequal partnership with Lorraine always's leading. Gethin would look totally out of his depth handling serious news stories which is already hapenning with Kate and Dan (despite their good chemistry).

If there was a major event in the morning the vast majority of people would naturally tune into BBC Breakfast with Bill and Susannah or Sky News with Eamonn as opposed to Daybreak with potentially Lorraine and Gethin. I think this comes back to the fundamental issue for Daybreak which is content. The content at the moment is too inconsistent, incoherent repetitive and lightweight.

I share the concerns of many that if they decide to go down the showbiz and celebrity dross route then they are simply replicating the mistakes of the past. Ratings will decline further and more viewers will simply switch off.

Also, in reference to yesterday's controversial interview with Helen's comment's regarding the teenager. At first I thought she was out of order. But, to be fair she was just being honest. I think in hindsight she could have chosen her words more wisely. However, I thought the whole item was a bit pointless and tacky which currently sums up Daybreak's format.

Also, the past week has clearly demonstrated that Kate presents so much better with John, while Dan presents so much better with Helen.

They were supposedly axed for being too lightweight, so if that isn't an indication that they want more emphasis on news then I'm not sure what is. They can still target hassled mums with a newsier approach just by using the GMTV model which they appear to be doing with the relaunch.

I'm going to throw another name in the hat here, what if Mary Nightingale was to move from ITV News to Daybreak? How do you think that would pan out? that would definitely bring the emphasis on the news front anyway.

I think Julie Etchingham would be better, also Natasha Kaplinsky did some inserts for Daybreak a while back, she wasn't bad!