I think he was a bit manic for a period there. His book is an excellent read though.
I remember seeing a talk he gave at a university in the lead up to the launch, and he was saying he wanted Wake Up to connect with younger audiences and I was skeptical then of the supposed audience for it.
I’ve always meant to track this down.
I thought Wake Up was doomed to fail from the very beginning.
James Mathison was polarising and the whole disaster with three presenters who didn’t mix at all was completely awkward for the viewer.
If I remember rightly it started at 6.30am so Sunrise and Today already had an half hour jump on it (this is before they began at 5.30am) and did anyone really think about the logistics behind producing a show far from the Network’s hub in Pyrmont?
Didn’t know how possible Weekend editions would work either because the Surf Club needed the recording space on Saturday and Sundays.
I seem to recall it being said during his Australian Story profile in 2014 that Adam Boland was rather obsessed with television from quite a young age - something among those lines.
On top of all the things you’ve said, the beach backdrop would’ve been absolutely horrendous during Winter when it would’ve been pitch black outside for half or more of the show!
But of course, Wake Up didn’t stay on-air long enough to even see a Winter Solstice…
What was the name of the dance show that flopped back then because didn’t Ch 7 have something last year similar and it flopped?
Everybody Dance Now?
10 had So You Think You Can Dance a while back, Dance Boss was on 7 in 2018.
What’s that got to do with anything?
Part of that would have been that News Breakfast initially started on ABC2, though - it certainly got a cult following there, but it wouldn’t have been a goer on the main channel until everyone had digital TV (switchover hadn’t finished yet) and they were able to move the morning kids shows to a multi-channel.
Ten of course didn’t really have that luxury. Switching from cartoons (with Toasted TV moving to Eleven) to news is a hard slog (the switch from Agro to long-form Sunrise didn’t happen immediately for Seven a decade earlier either). Especially when trying to go harder than the fluffy breakfast formula on the other two networks.
These days, given typical linear TV demos now, they’re probably comfortable with just an extended Studio 10 and giving up on the rest of the breakfast slot like they’ve done for a while now. 
Despite what many think on this board, I think 10 were on the right track with the News revolution prior to 2012. Was it executed perfectly? No. But they would have pre-empted the youth audience move to streaming by capturing an older audience hardened onto traditional mediums.
I have worked in the TV industry for 25 years, specifically from an audience response area. A hard segment of that audience just will not convert to streaming in the foreseeable future. They want traditional TV delivered to them in a traditional way. They also have money to spend. A lot of money. Yet, media buyers (who are mostly young themselves) and hence today’s TV execs find quoting younger demos sexier. I think this will change as FTA cling onto every viewer they can get.
It’s not too late for 10.
Could 10 relaunch into an oldies network? Like an older skew than 7? As their younger audience drops off to streaming.
They’d need a reinvestment in News and become an actual serious player up against Seven and Nine plus maybe Police dramas with actors in their 70s 
. Kinda like CBS in the 1990s.
10 did a turnaround in the early 90s to chase younger demos because Nine and Seven didn’t want them, maybe it’s time to turn the tables?
This is not the thread for your Ten News fantasy schedules.
Hosted by Sarah Murdoch and lasted only a few weeks.
He was the only reason to watch it.
Very interesting topic. I’m pretty sure that was the year I stopped watching Ten nightly. I never was into Masterchef and The Project was getting to heavy on crosspromotions. Basically this was the year that kicked off their slow decline into the eventual ViacomCBS buyout. Maybe they really believed the world was going to end?
Kathryn Robinson not enough star power for you, Bort?
Also whatever happened to Magdalena Rose?
Two words, Byron Bay.
Oh dear. It’s taken another one.
While a polished presenter, she was somewhat less likely to put her foot in it.