Adam Boland to lead Ten’s return to the morning battle
Adam Boland – the man who took Seven’s Sunrise to number one and created The Morning Show – is to join Ten as director of morning television and develop a new 6am to noon.
Boland announced he was leaving Seven last week.
Boland was most recently director of social media and strategy at Seven, a role he took on in July 2011.
Boland made his name as the person who turned Sunrise – then an embryonic program – around in his mid-twenties and took it past Nine’s then dominant Today to number one. He then successfully launched The Morning Show and took that to ratings domination too.
Boland’s appointment is the first major move since the firing of Ten CEO James Warburton a week ago. Boland, whose Seven contract expired yesterday, had already been approached by Warburton but did not sign to Ten until a meeting with new Ten chief Hamish McLennan this week.
Boland will be given the task of overhauling Ten’s 6am to noon programming. Last year saw the axing of mid-morning show The Circle and the Paul Henry-fronted Breakfast.
McLennan officially joins the network on March 18, the same day Boland will start, Russel Howcroft is acting CEO in the meantime.
It is unclear which timeslot Ten intends to target specifically. The head-to-head breakfast battle between Nine’s Today and Seven’s Sunrise offers larger potential audiences, but the mid morning slot may be easier for the network to find ways of making advertising revenue if it can find the right niche.
Boland’s arrival comes as the network fights to rebuild momentum after months of terrible audience figures.
The announcement:
Network Ten today announced the appointment of Adam Boland as Director of Morning Television.
Mr Boland will join Network Ten on March 18, reporting to Head of News and Current Affairs, Anthony Flannery.
“We are very excited about hiring Adam, who is one of the best television news executives in Australia,” Network Ten Chief Executive Officer, Hamish McLennan, said.
“The appointment of Adam to this new role is further evidence of our commitment to signing the best talent for TEN. Adam will further bolster our already very strong TEN News team.”
Mr Boland, who was previously Director of Social Media and Strategy at Seven Network, said he was delighted to be joining Network Ten.
“I’m truly excited about my new role at Network Ten. I firmly believe in Hamish and his management team, the plans they have for the company and their strong commitment to innovative programming,” he said.
“Frankly, the decision to join them was a no-brainer for me. I know it’s a place where I can have some real fun.”
finally some good news for Ten. That appointment could actually make a difference. Let’s hope they are patient with Adam. The Sunrise build took time.
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Best signing they’ve made in 4 years! Good call. I’m surprised he’s not answering straight to the top (wouldn’t want to be Flannery) and I’d be surprised if that’s what his title is in 6 months time…
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PS I guess he’ll be bringing 1 sponsor.. Goggle+… 😉
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What a great way to start the ‘new’ Ten. Go Adam!
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When Adam joined 7 he had a vision for Sunrise, a differentiated position from the dominant 9. He unashamedly took ideas from breakfast radio FM and applied a TV adaptation.In time it worked ever so slowly, then it got the better of Today. Now 9 are fighting back and the ratings numbers are consistently close.When i worked at 7 he would regularly start at 10.30pm to see the goss from around the world and local. He worked his butt off as did his team. In my humble view a great hire for 10
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AT LAST! I wonder who he’ll bring with him…
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Ha – and Stokes now owns 5% of TEN!
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Congrats Adam, may the world shine brightly upon you, as it did when you revamped Sunrise.
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Is fighting for mornings the best strategy ? I am sure they are paying him handsomely and he has done some good work at Seven bringing a tired breakfast format to life.But I see the problem in the 63 1/2 hours that are Peak viewing- maybe the Project will change.
Part of the Sunrise success can be attributed to the success of Sevens Peak format during his time – remember Lost and Desperate Houswives…these programs helped to keep TV sets tuned to Seven when people woke up the next day. Ten has not got any of these appointment to watch programs yet.
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In the words of Monty Python et al “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy”
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Bring back gma that was the glory days for morning tv on ten.And oh-bring back Paul Henry
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Sounds like a great idea… let’s hope he has great success
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