Changes ahead for Sunrise?

There is no denying the vast difference in ratings between TV3's Sunrise and TV One's Breakfast. Despite this, TV3 news chief Mark Jennings said earlier this year that he did not see any major problems with Sunrise and that there would not be any drastic changes to the show.

However, Media Fetish can reveal that after being appointed Associate Director of Programming across both TV3 and C4, former C4 Director Andrew Szusterman has been given the job of increasing ratings for the TV3 morning show. But what changes will Szusterman bring?

NZ Herald's John Drinnan, among others, has speculated that viewers can expect to see "a less newsy, more entertainment-focused show".

Total Media managing director Martin Gillman has always hoped that TV3 refrain from cancelling the show. "Morning television is an important growth area for free-to-air TV," says Gillman.

If Sunrise is cancelled now, then Breakfast will be set in stone as New Zealand's only choice for morning entertainment and information (aside from radio). This would be bad news for both TV3 and TV One fans, for if Breakfast is without a competitor then it will not have as much pressure to provide an increasingly better service. If given more time, we believe that Sunrise will find it's feet and slowly achieve those ratings that it is after - for there is hardly ever a news show that beats it's competitor in the first year of broadcast.

The most important change needed at Sunrise is for them to stop allowing Ali Ikram to sing karaoke!