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TEN to Wake Up with “Tash, Tarsh & Matho”

Natarsha Belling, Natasha Exelby & James Mathison will front TEN's new breakfast show, Wake Up.

WakeUp 018Natarsha Belling, Natasha Exelby and James Mathison will front TEN’s return to breakfast television in the Adam Boland-produced Wake Up.

They will broadcast weekdays from Queenscliff Surf Club at Manly Beach with Nuala Hafner reading News from a Melbourne CBD glass-studio location, which is yet to be announced.

As yet there is no launch date for the new TEN venture and broadcast times are yet to be confirmed but Boland indicated block programming from “about 5 in the morning until midday.”

The new line-up was presented at a Press Conference earlier today at the Sebel in Sydney ahead of TEN’s Winter Party event tonight. No announcements were made for the untitled morning show programme featuring Ita Buttrose and Joe Hildebrand. More presenters are yet to be announced.

“If you picture Sunrise and Today as AM Radio, how do you do an FM Version on TV? That was the starting point but it has evolved somewhat since then,” he said.

“Essentially you’re looking at the same show across both channels.

“From our point of view we wanted to be intentionally different.

“There’s something about a beach that just puts you in the right frame of mind.

“From the moment we walked in we knew we had the right place. You get these extraordinary panoramic views down the headlands, and think about, at that time of morning you have your fitness freaks, yoga classes, surfers who will be catching waves. So that becomes our live set every single morning.”

Boland says his team of three females and one male was based not on gender but their chemistry.

“Chemistry is everything in breakfast television. You only have to look at the last Breakfast show to work that out,” he said.

“We were really open-minded. We tried a variety of combinations: high-profile people, low-profile people, people from other networks, people from our own network, people from interstate.

“By the end of the first week it was pretty clear we were not going to be a double-header, a typical male / female show.

“We stumbled across something that was genuinely special.”

Boland says of Natarsha Belling and Natasha Exelby “One is married, one is single, one is a little bit conservative, the other is not. Together to me they are dynamite and they are mates.”

Wake Up is promising to have a looser feel than other breakfast shows, booking fewer guests, having concerts at Manly and drawing upon social media through its 4 social media producers. The show has entered into “strategic partnerships with Twitter.”

TEN’s Head of News and Current Affairs Anthony Flannery adds, “Australia will find Wake Up fun, informative and different. We hope viewers will let us become party of their mornings, and enjoy the show as much as we will enjoy making it.”

Both Wake Up and the unannounced morning show will launch together this year.

48 Responses

  1. Here we go again, all the citycentricalist getting all hot and bothered about absolutely nothing, thinking that “All Of Australia” revolves around their own little world, and if it doesn’t, they are seeming not to be interested…. Well who cares where the hub of a programme is located, because it will live or die on its is content and more importantly the presenters.
    Where I liken the present lineup for “Wake Up” and “Untitled”??, to my childhood days of fighting my brother for the ‘Unknown” prize included in our breakfast cereal packets, and no matter what ever we found we enjoyed the anticipation of a surprise.

    But after waiting in hope and anticipation of Ten’s new Breakfast and Untitled Morning packets, and now following the surprise effect of the respective hosts being mostly deflatingly revealed, I doubt I will even be tempted to even open Ten’s packets, and sample…

  2. @Tarandoc
    The perceived provincialism works both ways.
    It is also felt that Sydneysiders prefer Sydney based productions.
    However, I sometimes wonder if it really is as important to viewers as TV executives think.

  3. The perceived need to base a newsreader in Melbourne really does say something about the provincialism about Melburnians. I bet that Channel 10 will really try and push this angle in the Melbourne-specific publicity for the new show. It is all a bit lame and pathetic.

    I mean, the people of second tier American cities don’t get upset that the national news and current affairs come out of New York, rather than, say, Philadelphia, Boston or wherever.

  4. @ muscledude_oz….I do not know about Melb. folk….I find the Sunrise backdrop annoying…the NBC Today show also do it….and all those foolish people waving in the back ground…talking on their cell ‘phones…’look at me’….just awful!

  5. Natasha Exelby is a star in the making. She really has it all but her personality is a standout. Her and Matho will be a hoot and with Tarsh and Nuala, I think Adam Boland has a hit on his hands. We now have a serious alternative. Sunrise and Today are both ok but I am finding them both a bit repetitive and tired looking which is totally understandable doing 3.5 hrs a day.

  6. Actually this might be a good idea, the news from a glass-fronted studio in Melbourne. I’ve often thought that people in Melbourne find Sunrise’s constant backdrop of Martin Place to be a turn-off. With the main location of Queenscliff surf club they will keep everybody in Sydney and Melbourne happy.

  7. adam bowland i think you have lost your midas touch too similar to the other breakfast shows.what a boring lineup. you really do need one host to be the stand out and in this group none are . all are capable but no one with the wow factor. some one like Kerrie anne kennerly should be in your line up.full of life and energy and bubbly thats what i would wake up to in the morning.will stick with sunrise love natalie samantha and melissa .

  8. Regarding the Sydney vs Melbourne thing, I think going to a beach is actually quite a clever and neutral move.

    Apart from the relaxed informality of beach life creating an instant point of difference to the city backdrop studio-based shows, it also suggests a younger and hence more vibrant approach all round.

    Also consider that all Australian capital cities have city beaches and beach/surf culture, with the exception of Brisbane – which of course has the Gold & Sunshine Coasts.

  9. This sounds interesting. The beach backdrop is a fresh idea and much better than the Harvey Norman clearance centre set of Breakfast.
    As for Sydney vs Melbourne, I don’t think it will make a huge difference. The Circle was produced in Melbourne and was the best of the morning shows but was the lowest rating.
    At the moment I watch Today , but it is such a strictly formatted show. They could repeat Monday’s show all week and I wouldn’t know the difference. Hopefully Wake-Up will be more flexible and unpredictable.

  10. “From our point of view we wanted to be intentionally different.”

    Lemme see. Four people on early morning television, sitting at a desk or on a couch or even walking the beach, talking about things that either have no consequence or they know nothing about, with the occasional cross to the news desk. Yep, very original.

    I still maintain that a 2 hour live feed from the Cat Haven’s Kitty Cam would be better.

  11. I read that as Tash, Trash and Matho…. 🙁

    It sure is a tongue twister – surely one of the Tash/Tarsh could have gone as Nat instead? It’s a horrible typo waiting to happen.

  12. Maybe Wake Up is a working title? Surely an opportunity like the ‘My Private ItaJoe’ show to allow a comp on social media to create a more creative name. Also wonder if the Melb CBD studio for news might be at the Rialto? Would be a contrasting backdrop to the ‘main’ studio. Also feel like others that full production in Melb would make a clear point of difference.

  13. Natarsha Belling Yes the rest No. This will be full of inane chatter. The location is going to scream Sydneyto viewers so will be a turn off to other states.
    No Matt Doran is a big mistake as is the presence of James Mathison.

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