After 15 years of waking up at 3am to host ABC Information Breakfast, Michael Rowland is asking it quits.
The co-host of the general public broadcaster’s breakfast providing has instructed viewers his closing present might be on 13 December, adopted by a protracted break.
“I love working on News Breakfast,” Rowland stated on Monday. “Every morning is a buzz and it’s by far the best job I’ve had at the ABC.
“But after 15 years of 3am starts my body is screaming ‘enough!’. The hours have finally caught up with me.”
Rowland, 55, is strolling away six months after his former co-host Lisa Millar give up after 5 years to focus on tv tasks together with Muster Canine. Millar was changed by Bridget Brennan. The sports activities presenter Tony Armstrong additionally left Information Breakfast in October.
Rowland is the third male co-host of Breakfast after Barrie Cassidy and Joe O’Brien however the longest serving.
Chatting with Virginia Trioli on her podcast You Don’t Know Me in September, he revealed the draw back of such a high-profile function in 15 hours of stay TV every week.
“The toll it takes gets more pronounced every year – the hours, the horrible stories we have to cover as journalists presenting a news program,” he stated.
“I find it is taking more of a toll on me, personally, on my family life, and I’m looking forward to something less intense.”
Rowland has primarily managed to stroll the road between political interviews, breaking information and lighter fare which has seen him consuming eye-watering chilli, steaming haggis and even fried bugs.
“It has been a thrill interviewing everyone from prime ministers to Hollywood superstars,” he stated. “On what other program can you switch from presenting hard news to diving into a chilli-eating competition or dancing the Nutbush (badly).”
Rowland famously aggravated the then Coalition well being minister, Greg Hunt, when he questioned the usage of a Liberal occasion brand on an advert for Covid vaccines.
after publication promotion
“I know this is an issue for you,” Hunt stated. “In many ways, you identify with the left.”
Rowland: “No, no, minister, I find that offensive.”
When an enormous political story broke, the Melbourne-based journalist would fly to Canberra to host Breakfast stay from the scene: a number of management challenges noticed him journey to Canberra 5 occasions in eight years. He additionally co-anchored with Millar the ABC protection of the dying of Queen Elizabeth. The duo was amongst 12 ABC employees deployed to London to offer stay studies and file tales across the clock.
For Rowland, an enduring reminiscence is interviewing a distraught NSW transport minister and native MP, Andrew Constance, as he spoke of neighbours dropping their houses through the 2020 bushfires.
The ABC director information, Justin Stevens, stated Rowland was a well-known and trusted face.
“His ability to traverse serious reporting as well as lighter topics, and do it on live TV for three hours every morning, shows what a hugely talented broadcaster he is,” Stevens stated.
When Rowland was within the US protecting the election, his function was crammed by the Australian Capital Territory newsreader James Glenday, who Guardian Australia tipped final month to switch him completely.
Rowland shares the sofa with Emma Rebellato, the game presenter Charles Brice and the climate presenter Nate Byrne. Tyson Shine is this system’s govt producer.
