Sunrise (British TV programme)

Sunrise is a British weekday breakfast programme which was broadcast on Sky News from 6 February 1989 to 13 October 2019. The programme was replaced by The Early Rundown (Monday-Friday), Kay Burley @ Breakfast (Monday-Thursday), and Sky News @ Breakfast (Friday-Sunday) in October 2019.

For other uses, see Sunrise (disambiguation).

Sunrise
Sunrise final titlecard
GenreBreakfast television programme
Opening themeSky News theme
Country of originUnited Kingdom
(Broadcast internationally)
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationsStudio 6, Sky Studios
Osterley, London (2018–2019)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time270 minutes (1989–1995)
240 minutes (1995–2005, 2016–2019 (Saturdays))
180 minutes (2005–2016, 2018–2019 (Sunday–Friday))
Production companySky plc
DistributorSky plc
Release
Original networkSky News
Picture format1080i (HDTV)
Original release6 February 1989 (1989-02-06) –
13 October 2019 (2019-10-13)
External links
Sky News

History

At its beginning in February 1989, Sunrise ran from 5:00 to 9:30am. In 1991, it became one of only two slots across Sky's 20-year history to have its own individual graphics, the other being flagship bulletin Live at Five. These graphics were swiftly withdrawn after viewers and staff alike deemed them too gaudy. Sunrise has used the channel's graphics ever since. However, it is common for Sunrise to use a slight variation of some elements, such as in 1997, when it had its own variation on the-then title sequence, and in 2005 when Sunrise used an individual variation of the Sky News globe.

When Sky News relaunched on 24 October 2005, Eamonn Holmes and Lorna Dunkley became the regular presenters of the weekday editions of Sunrise, with Steve Gaisford and Emma Crosby fronting the weekend edition. Jacquie Beltrao provided sports updates during the week. The broadcast time was now 6–9 am.

In January 2007, Dunkley moved to Sky News' weekend coverage. Holmes was then joined on Sunrise by new signing Charlotte Hawkins.[1]

In March 2014, Hawkins left Sky News to join Good Morning Britain;[2] her replacement was Isabel Webster, who took up her post as Sunrise co-host later that month.

Previously, weekend editions were presented by Mark Longhurst and Gillian Joseph. In 2012, Stephen Dixon replaced Longhurst on the programmes screened by Sunrise from Friday to Sunday, with Longhurst transferring over to present the weekend evening slot. Charlie Thomas continues to present sports updates.

In October 2016, Sunrise relaunched, being anchored by Sarah-Jane Mee and Jonathan Samuels from Monday to Thursday, and Stephen Dixon with Isabel Webster from Friday to Sunday. As part of these changes, Sunrise was also extended, with the programme now finishing at 10 a.m.

In August 2017, Sunrise was rebranded, with a new logo; along with this, weekday editions reverted from double-headed to mostly single-headed, with Sarah-Jane Mee presenting most of the slot, and Jonathan Samuels reading the headlines. However, weekend editions remained completely double-headed.

In January 2019, editions of Sunrise that were screened from Sunday to Friday returned to the traditional 6-9am time-frame; Saturday editions continued to run from 6-10am as before.[3]

Since 1989, Christmas editions of Sunrise have generally been presented by Kay Burley.

Studio

On 5 February 2009 at 6am, Sunrise began presenting from a new "multi-purpose" area of the Sky News Centre, formally known as the "shoebox". This coincides with the 20th anniversary of Sky News and a revamp for the main studio.

From 10 December 2012, the Sunrise studio was refreshed, with a new blue lit desk and red sofa being introduced. The programme also received a new logo, although it only appeared on the plasma screen in the studio.

On 9 February 2015, Sunrise moved to the main Sky News desk due to their original studio position becoming flooded; this change was soon made permanent.[4]

Between October 2016 and November 2017, Sunrise was broadcast from Studio 21 at Sky Central. The programme returned to Sky News Centre on 18 November, along with the rest of Sky News' output while work was carried out in Studio 21 and Sunrise's new studio was completed.

On 17 January 2018 Sunrise began broadcasting from Studio 6 at Sky Studios. The new studio includes a virtual space to allow for segments away from the desk area, along with the sport and weather.

On 13 October 2019, the last episode of Sunrise was broadcast on Sky News, presented by Stephen Dixon and Gillian Joseph. Following the show's demise, weekday anchor Sarah-Jane Mee moved to presenting an afternoon show. Dixon and Joseph, however, continued to present breakfast hour programming in the form of Sky News @ Breakfast.

Broadcasts

Sunrise has been simulcast on Sky One intermittently over the years, most recently in February 2016. The 6am hour was also broadcast daily on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2006, and continued to be shown on Saturdays until 2008.

Presenters

Weekday presenters
Dates Presenter One Presenter Two
1989–91 Penny Smith Alistair Yates
1991–93 Selina Scott Michael Wilson
1993–95 Bob Friend Anna Walker
1995 – March 1999 Martin Stanford Kay Burley
March 1999 – October 2000 Kate Garraway
October 2000 – September 2001 Simon McCoy Natasha Kaplinsky
September 2001 – February 2002 Juliette Foster
February 2002 – September 2002 Julie Etchingham
September 2002 – May 2003 Various
May 2003 – December 2003 Emma Crosby
January 2004 – June 2005 Greg Milam Lorna Dunkley
June 2005 – October 2005 Stephen Dixon
October 2005 – January 2007 Eamonn Holmes
January 2007 – March 2014 Charlotte Hawkins
March 2014 – October 2016 Isabel Webster
October 2016 – September 2018 Sarah-Jane Mee Jonathan Samuels
September 2018 – October 2019 Niall Paterson

Weekend presenters
Dates Presenter One Presenter Two
October 2005 – May 2006 Steve Gaisford Emma Crosby
May 2006 – September 2006 Stephen Dixon
September 2006 – April 2007 Mark Longhurst
Late 2006 – April 2007 Helen Fospero
February 2007 – April 2007 Samantha Simmonds
April 2007 – October 2007 Mark Longhurst
October 2007 – December 2011 Gillian Joseph
January 2012 – October 2016 Stephen Dixon
October 2016 - December 2017 Isabel Webster
December 2017 - October 2019 Gillian Joseph

Additional presenters
Presenter Area Notes
Jacquie Beltrao Sport Weekday Sport Presenter
Gemma Nash Sport Weekend Sport Presenter
Jamie Weir Sport Relief Sport Presenter
Nazaneen Ghaffar Weather Main Weather Presenter
Isobel Lang Weather Weekend Weather Presenter
Jo Wheeler Weather Relief
Kirsty McCabe Weather Relief

Stand-in Presenters
Dates Presenter Notes
2015–16 Sarah-Jane Mee Maternity cover for Isabel Webster
25 December Kay Burley Burley presented Sunrise on Christmas Day, most years. In 2016 and 2017, she also presented the Boxing Day edition.
December 2017 – October 2019 Gillian Joseph maternity cover for Isabel Webster
Other Sky News presenters provided short term cover
Sunrise logos over recent years
  • Logo used from 2012–15
  • Logo used from 2015–17
  • Logo used from 2017–18

References
  1. Tryhorn, Chris (9 January 2007). "Meridian presenter Charlotte Hawkins joins Eamonn Holmes at Sky News". The Guardian.
  2. Plunkett, John; Conlan, Tara (25 April 2014). "ITV prepares to usher in new dawn with Good Morning Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2017.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Tweaked schedule for Sky News from Monday 7th January – Sky News". TV Newsroom. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  4. Baird, Dugald (9 February 2015). "Sky News: flood of woes for Eamonn Holmes and the Sunrise team". The Guardian.
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