EP of Ten’s struggling Breakfast show to leave on Friday
The executive producer of Ten’s ratings-starved show Breakfast is to depart the show after less than eight months in the job and less than five months after the show went on air.
Majella Wiemers’ last day will be Friday. She will be replaced by Sarah Bristow.
A Ten spokesman told Mumbrella: “Majella has resigned and leaves this Friday. Majella has worked tirelessly on Breakfast and she leaves with Ten’s thanks for her hard work and commitment. Her successor as Breakfast EP is Sarah Bristow, who was her deputy.”
Wiemers’ departure comes a few days after the exit of co-host Andrew Rochford.
The show is now helmed by Paul Henry, Kathryn Robinson and Magdalena Roze.
While Seven’s Sunrise and Nine’s Today tend to vary between metro audiences of 300,000 to 400,000, Breakfast has languished at around 10% of that number since it launched on February 23.
In a Mumbrella interview with Wiemers shortly before launch, she said that she was not thinking about ratings.
Last month Henry – who previously presented breakfast television in NZ – told Mumbrella that he was finding it tough working with a team that was new to it. Asked if he found working with an inexperienced team frustrating, he said: ”In every way. Where do I begin? You want everybody to be on the same page at the same time. I’ll call for shots and I can imagine there are 20 people in the control room thinking ‘why didn’t that arse tell us what he was going to do?’”
He said: “If it is truly going to evolve properly it will take a long time to get to its best. It’s a long, long way from its best now.”
News of Wiemers’ departure was first reported by TV Tonight. Before Breakfast she spent three years as a producer at Southern Star. Earlier in her career she was a weather presenter.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
Give it a chance. I think it is a refreshing show compared to the clones- Sunrise and Today.sometimes you dont know which one you are watching. they are both so similiar-carbon copy. They have the news at the same time, sport and weather, no proper discussion of topics. it is very frustrating watching either show- the rare times I was home on leave I flicked around and found Tens brekkie offering very refreshing. just needs to build and it will take time. Does Ten regret the glory days of GMA?
User ID not verified.
Why didn’t they try something new rather than just copy what is already out there?
Henry is great talent. Rather than producing another beige breakfast show with a couch and a massive cast why not just have Henry and one other person at a desk reading the news?
I’d watch it for the 10 minutes in the morning before racing out the door. The show is far too subtle for our morning attention span…
User ID not verified.
Too quick to change .. how can an audience settle on a new(ish) format when it keeps changing.
User ID not verified.
It’s got fleas and barks… Was a ridiculous decision in the first place. And its screwed up the rest of their daytime schedule. They used to smash daytime (11am-5pm) but now they’ve given up their advantage by playing their kids show up against the other kids shows. They might be writing more revenue, but their costs are way more than they’re making. Can’t see it lasting too much longer…
User ID not verified.
I have never seen three more awkward people sitting on a couch – there is no chemistry. Get rid of the nasty guy with glasses and ratings may rise.
User ID not verified.
It was always going to be a struggle for TEN. The choice of talent, ie Henry , was an unbelievable miscalculation. How they thought he was going to have any sort of rapport with the Australian public I’ll never know, did they really pay him that much!
Ratings – would be below their lowest predicitons by tens of thousands.
Result – the program is on life support, too expensive to fail!
User ID not verified.
Dear Sarah bristle. I wrote months ago, andrew was an asset, if you watched the show Kathryn Robinson. Killed the. Show, she has no manners, so self absorbed, she talks. Over the rest of the hosts. Visiting. Members everybody, she may be a good journalist, but not. A host, I turned off. Every time. She. Spoke, so upset. Andrew. Left. He has manners, looks, great personality, He needs his own. Show including. Medical. Advice, I wrote. To him re this , he has a family to feed, and was energize. To succeed. You have. Lost a much loved. Hosts, better liked than paul, paul is funny. But. Andrew. Is much loved, hundreds. Email in complaining. About Kathryn. Check your. Files, I won’t be watching. Any new. Shows with. Paul. Send him back to NZ. he. Is unable to share. Also, it comes. Back to good manners. And respect, watch channel 7. And channel. 9. And. 24′. They all wait. For the other to finish talking, Kathryn was interviewed. On the gold coast and it was all. About how wonderfull. She is. …….not….. Go back to journalism. Regards. Virginia. Very upset. And would like. To say. I. Told you. So ……….
User ID not verified.
to sarah bristow ….kathryn robinson killed the show, she interrupts a lll the time, feels her comments more important, everyone , visitors etc, she talks, i turned off every time i wrote months ago and warned andrew, he needs to the the only host he has the ability and could give medical ADVICE, CALLL MEDICALL SPS IN, kathryn was interviewed on the gold coast, it was a lll about her , she feltshe was an asset, she might be a good journalist but never a host, she blinks her eyes too much , has a very large mouth and big teeth, AND NEVER SHUTS UP, andrew has manners, brains , looks and a large following, big mistake channel 10, he will succeed in greater things just watch this space
User ID not verified.
sarah bristow pplease listen to the viewers
User ID not verified.
Forget about Henry..the ladies are the stars…excellent weather details form Roze and Kathryn is very knowledgable. It just needs….”that something”….
User ID not verified.
Where. Is andrew. Now. ,,,,,,,we. Miss. Him. Virginia
User ID not verified.
I miss. Him also with many. Others feeling the same, I will. Follow up maybe returned to the hospital duties. Bring him back with. His own show channel. 10, medical show. Like. Dr oz. ……virginia
User ID not verified.