''Sunrise'' was 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
''Sky News Breakfast'' is a British breakfast television program that airs Saturday and Bank Holidays from 6–10am and Sunday from 6–8.30am on Sky News. The show launched on Friday, 18 October 2019 as the replacement for long-running breakf ...
'' (Friday-Sunday) in October 2019.
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 These graphics were swiftly withdrawn after viewers and staff alike deemed them too gaudy.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
Lorna Dunkley (born 23 February 1972 in Cirencester) is an English newsreader, television presenter and journalist. Until July 2016, she was a news anchor for '' Sky News'', Sky's 24-hour television news network and hosted the weekend afternoon ...
became the regular presenters of the weekday editions of ''Sunrise'', with
Steve Gaisford
Steve Gaisford is a British news presenter working primarily for ITV News and on occasions Al Jazeera English.
In September 2009 Gaisford launched new company Chloros which focuses on using well known faces as online web presenters.
Broadcasting ...
and
Emma Crosby
Emma Catherine Crosby (born 5 June 1977) is a British television newsreader and journalist.
Between 2003 and 2009, Crosby worked at Sky News, regularly co-presenting their breakfast programme ''Sunrise'', along with various other programmes o ...
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
Charlotte Mary Hawkins (born 16 May 1975) is an English television and radio presenter, newsreader and journalist.
Hawkins joined ITV's ''Meridian Tonight'' in 2003, hosting its main news programme, leaving in 2006 to become co-presenter of ...
.
In March 2014, Hawkins left Sky News to join ''
Good Morning Britain''; her replacement was
Isabel Webster
Isabel Webster is a British television presenter and newsreader, who currently co-hosts GB News Breakfast alongside Eamonn Holmes. Until December 2017, Webster co-hosted ''Sunrise'' on Sky News, alongside Stephen Dixon.
Early life and educ ...
, who took up her post as ''Sunrise'' co-host later that month.
Previously, weekend editions were presented by
Mark Longhurst
Mark Longhurst is a British news presenter. Longhurst presented on ITV's regional news, ITV News West Country until October 2017. Before this, he was a presenter at Sky News, where he presented the channel's evening news programmes from Friday to ...
and
Gillian Joseph
Gillian Angela Joseph (born 20 July 1969) is a British newscaster currently working for Sky News. Joseph is the anchor of weekend editions of ''Sky News at Ten''.
Early life
She was born in 1969 in Coventry, England. Her parents originated fro ...
. 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
Sarah-Jane Mee (born 10 July 1978) is a Sky News presenter and the anchor of '' The Sarah-Jane Mee Show''. From October 2016 until October 2019, Mee anchored ''Sunrise''.
Career
After graduating from the University of Manchester, Mee joined ...
and
Jonathan Samuels
Jonathan Samuels (born 1972) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He co-anchored Sky News Sunrise between 2016 and 2018 and now anchors The News Hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as News at Ten during weekend periods. He can also ...
from Monday to Thursday, and
Stephen Dixon with
Isabel Webster
Isabel Webster is a British television presenter and newsreader, who currently co-hosts GB News Breakfast alongside Eamonn Holmes. Until December 2017, Webster co-hosted ''Sunrise'' on Sky News, alongside Stephen Dixon.
Early life and educ ...
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
Sarah-Jane Mee (born 10 July 1978) is a Sky News presenter and the anchor of '' The Sarah-Jane Mee Show''. From October 2016 until October 2019, Mee anchored ''Sunrise''.
Career
After graduating from the University of Manchester, Mee joined ...
presenting most of the slot, and
Jonathan Samuels
Jonathan Samuels (born 1972) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He co-anchored Sky News Sunrise between 2016 and 2018 and now anchors The News Hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as News at Ten during weekend periods. He can also ...
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.
Since 1989, Christmas editions of ''Sunrise'' have generally been presented by
Kay Burley
Kay Burley (born Kay McGurrin; 17 December 1960) is a British broadcaster and writer. She is a presenter on Sky News and hosts '' Kay Burley'', the breakfast slot on the channel. She also worked for BBC Local Radio, Tyne Tees Television, and ...
.
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 coincided 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.
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 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
Sarah-Jane Mee (born 10 July 1978) is a Sky News presenter and the anchor of '' The Sarah-Jane Mee Show''. From October 2016 until October 2019, Mee anchored ''Sunrise''.
Career
After graduating from the University of Manchester, Mee joined ...
moved to presenting an
afternoon show. Dixon and Joseph, however, continued to present breakfast hour programming in the form of ''
Sky News @ Breakfast
''Sky News Breakfast'' is a British breakfast television program that airs Saturday and Bank Holidays from 6–10am and Sunday from 6–8.30am on Sky News. The show launched on Friday, 18 October 2019 as the replacement for long-running breakf ...
''.
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
Weekend presenters
Additional presenters
Stand-in Presenters
Logo gallery
References
External links
Sky News
{{UK Breakfast TV
1989 British television series debuts
2019 British television series endings
1990s British television series
2000s British television series
Breakfast television in the United Kingdom
Sky News
Sky UK original programming
English-language television shows
Sky television news shows