Sunrise is an Australian breakfast show program. It is broadcast on the Seven Network, and is hosted by Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington. The program follows Sunrise Early News, and runs from 5:30 am to 9:00 am. It is followed by The Morning Show.
History
The history of Sunrise can be traced back to 14 January 1991 when 11AM news presenter Darren McDonald began presenting an early morning Seven News – Sunrise Edition bulletin, three days prior to the Gulf War's start.
In 1996, Seven introduced a one-hour weekday bulletin called Sunrise News, later renamed Sunrise. Seven recruited Chris Bath from NBN Television to present the bulletin alongside Peter Ford. Ford moved to other presenting roles in 1996 and was replaced by finance editor David Koch. In 1997, Chris Bath was transferred to Seven's 10.30 pm News and was replaced by Melissa Doyle. Sport presenter Nick McArdle and reporter Natalie Barr were regular substitute presenters. Seven launched a Sunday edition hosted by Stan Grant, entitled Sunday Sunrise, in 1997. Weekday Sunrise was cancelled in 1999, replaced by children's program The Big Breakfast. Seven maintained half-hourly news updates during The Big Breakfast and their Sunday bulletin was not affected by the axing. Other temporary Sunrise hosts up until this time include Anne Fulwood (who was filling in for Georgie Gardner at the time of the program's end), Leigh Hatcher and Nick McArdle (previously weekend sport presenter, Seven News Sydney).
During the 2000 Summer Olympics, Andrew Daddo and Johanna Griggs presented Olympic Sunrise from a leased apartment near Lavender Bay, in Sydney which provided the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House as waterside backdrops.
On 1 May 2000, the program was replaced by a new version of Sunrise produced by Adam Boland. It was hosted by Georgie Gardner and Melbourne sport reporter Mark Beretta. It was followed by music video program AMV.
According to Boland's Brekky Central, in late 2001 producers had created a plan to take on Today on the Nine Network, the leader at breakfast, taking inspiration from Fox America's Fox and Friends. Set to debut in March 2002, the multimillion-dollar production would have its own dedicated studio and fronted by Australian Radio personality Andrew Daddo and Lisa Forrest. However a month before its launch, the network's board axed the idea and believed money could be better spent.
In 2002, Seven revamped their breakfast television schedule with Seven Early News at 6:00 am, hosted by Chris Reason (which only lasted around one week), and a new version of Sunrise from 6:30 am to 9:00 am, hosted by Reason and Melissa Doyle. Sunrise ran from 6:00 am to 9:00 am from February the same year. David Koch was brought in to present the finance reports. In October of that year, Reason discovered he had another cancerous tumour behind his kidney and had to resign from his position. Four years earlier he had undergone treatment for another growth. Koch was appointed temporary presenter, a position later made permanent.
Sunrise was yet again revamped in December 2002 soon after Koch's appointment, focusing less on hard news and became more family friendly. The show, along with its rival Today on Nine, have become more tabloid focused which has boosted ratings.
In 2003, the show began to pick up ratings, and appointed Natalie Barr to present the news updates, followed by the appointment of former Network Ten journalist Grant Denyer to present weather reports, then the re-appointment of Mark Beretta, who was brought in to present sports updates. The new plan to take on Today, following the ratings rise, was some dramatic point of difference which included news updates every thirty minutes, big interviews, less formal presenting than a news bulletin, "the soapbox", ROS wall, natural chemistry but most importantly a shift in viewers interest. "Kochie" and "Mel", as they became informally known, relied less on scripts but more on talking points. They would debate the issues of the day and the viewers would heavily influence those topics. Some of these changes were not well received by members of Seven's news department who felt the shift in tone negatively impacted on the brand, and at one point then-Seven CEO Maureen Plavsic demanded Koch be fired only to be overruled by Kerry Stokes.
On 30 August 2004, Sunrise, Seven News Sydney and Seven Morning News moved from their studios in Epping to the new Seven News centre at Martin Place.
On 29 January 2007, Sunrise had a complete makeover with changes to the set and on-screen graphics. Due to continued viewer feedback, the Sunrise set changed again on 10 June 2007; specifically, the new set includes more of the city into its shots by the installation of smart glass. This glass, similar to that used on the Boeing 787 airliner, allows for the transparency of the glass to be adjusted, ranging from clear, to partially transparent to completely opaque, showing as a solid blue. These changes have proved useful in shielding viewers from the actions of some passers by, notably the cast members of the ABC show The Chaser's War on Everything and the protests surrounding the 2018 Aboriginal adoption controversy. The set was also modified so The Morning Show's set could fit into the Martin Place current affairs studio. In October 2009, it was announced that at the start of 2010, Sunrise would receive a brand new set, format, graphics and logo on 25 January 2010.
In April 2010, Sunrise added a feature show that shows a selection of highlights from the previous day's (or in the case of Monday, Friday) Sunrise. the show known as Sunrise Extra aired at 5am each weekday prior to Seven Early News.
In 2011, there was much speculation that Melissa Doyle would be leaving the show to present Today Tonight and that David Koch may be moved to a prime-time position. However, Doyle continued with the show for her tenth consecutive year in 2012, as did Koch.
On 29 February 2012, Sunrise celebrated its 10th anniversary with Doyle and Koch. Doyle is the only original presenter remaining from the March 2002 launch; at the time, Chris Reason was her co-host (he took leave in late 2002 to fight cancer, prompting the initial then-temporary appointment of Koch) and Koch was the finance analyst. Koch started presenting Sunrise on a permanent basis from 4 October 2002.
In May 2013, Sunrise broadcast once a week from the Seven Network's Melbourne studios (HSV-7) to attempt and capture a growing Melbourne audience. Sunrise has been trailing Today (and, since 2008, News Breakfast on the ABC) in the Melbourne market since 2008. The show was broadcast from the stations AFL Game Day set. This was discontinued later on after continually poor ratings.
On 20 June 2013 during the program, Doyle announced that she was leaving Sunrise after 14 years to front a new prime time Network News initiative. She stated, "It's with that experience and support from the team that I am able to take this next step. I'm honoured that the Network has given me this incredible new opportunity and I am unbelievably excited about the new challenges ahead." It was later announced that Samantha Armytage would be replacing Doyle as co-host alongside Koch.
In February 2016, Sunrise received a new set and graphics and was extended by 30 minutes to start at 5:30 am, matching the starting time of rival Today. This resulted in Seven Early News being moved to the 5:00 am timeslot and Sunrise Extra being cancelled. Edwina Bartholomew announced that she would be departing her role as weather presenter with Sam Mac announced as her replacement.
In June 2020, it was announced Natalie Barr would host the show two days a week, after Samantha Armytage requested a reduced workload. Barr presented with David Koch on Mondays, and with Armytage on Fridays. However, in September 2020, it was announced that Koch and Armytage would revert to a five-day working week with Natalie Barr resuming her news role.
In January 2021, Koch and Armytage reverted to a four-day week, with Matt Doran and Natalie Barr co-hosting on Fridays, with Edwina Bartholomew as news presenter.
On 8 March 2021, Armytage announced that she would be resigning as co-host, to spend more time with her family. Her final show was on 11 March 2021 On 14 March 2021, it was confirmed Natalie Barr would officially replace Armytage as co-host. Edwina Bartholomew replaced Barr as news presenter.
On 29 May 2023, David Koch announced his departure from Sunrise, ending a 21-year run on the breakfast show. Koch's replacement, Matt Shirvington was announced on 5 June 2023. Koch's last day was on 9 June 2023.
On 24 July 2023, Sunrise hosted its very first broadcast at its new studio base in Television City, South Eveleigh. The first edition went to air live at 5:30am, with hosts Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington, news presenter Edwina Bartholomew and sport presenter Mark Beretta, followed by The Morning Show'''s Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies as well as other Seven News broadcasts. With this change, the show received a rebranding along with The Morning Show.
In March 2024, Jodie Speers announced her resignation from the Seven Network. Seven Early News bulletin was renamed Sunrise Early News and Speers was replaced by Edwina Bartholomew.
On 27 November 2025, Mark Beretta announced his resignation from Sunrise after 22 years, with his final appearance on 12 December. He is expected to continue working with the Seven Network on special projects to be announced.
Special editions
Prior to 2010, Sunrise occasionally aired two special Saturday editions. This included, since 2003: 22 March 2003 – Koch and Melissa Doyle hosted a special Saturday edition of Sunrise covering the latest on the Iraq war as it happened, and the 2003 New South Wales state election, which was occurring that day. This also saw the rise of Natalie Barr as news presenter. 24 November 2007 (as Weekend Sunrise) – a special edition hosted by Andrew O'Keefe and Armytage covering the final day of the 2007 election campaign. Talitha Cummins presented the news, while Kylie Gillies presented the sport. 17 July 2010 (as Weekend Sunrise) – A special edition hosted by Larry Emdur and Rebecca Maddern covering from 7:00 am to 1:30 pm, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard's trip to Government House to talk with the Governor General, Quentin Bryce, and her press conference at Government House about an election to be held on 21 August and Tony Abbott's press conference in Brisbane. Sarah Cumming presented the news, Simon Reeve presented the sport and James Tobin presented the weather. The weeks of 10–14 January and 17–21 January – Sunrise was extended to start at 5:00 am and going on past 9:00 am on these mornings to cover the ongoing 2010–2011 Queensland floods and 2011 Victorian floods with Seven News picking up the rest of the coverage. As a result, the tennis coverage was moved to 7two (week of 10–14 January) and Sunrise extended to finish at 10:00 am (week of 17–21 January). 22 February 2011 – Koch reported live from Christchurch on the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. 26 January 2012 – Sunrise aired live from a mini-barge celebrating Australia Day on Sydney Harbour. Some viewers were given the opportunity to join the Sunrise team after entering an online competition. 16 December 2014 – Sunrise reported live from 4:00 am to 9:00 am for the coverage of the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis. 9 September 2022 – after the announcement of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, David Koch and Natalie Barr provided wall-to-wall coverage from 5:00am until 12 noon. All on-air talent wore black, in line with royal protocol for national mourning, up to and including the late Queen's funeral on 19 September 2022. 15 December 2025 - an extended edition of Sunrise in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack which went until midday, with rolling coverage after from 7NEWS.
Musical guests