Breakfast's 'sad week' begins as Peter Williams says goodbye

Peter Williams has been farewelled from Breakfast - the first of three hosts to leave the TVNZ show before the end of next week.

Williams, Breakfast's newsreader, is leaving along with hosts Rawdon Christie and Nadine Chalmers-Ross as part of a TVNZ shake-up that will see Hilary Barry and Jack Tame hosting the show from September 19.

Christie leaves the network on Friday, with Chalmers-Ross departing the following week. Tim Wilson will fill-in as host next week.

Rawdon Christie and Tim Wilson.

The changes are believed to have been made in response to a ratings surge by TV3's Paul Henry.

Christie and Chalmers-Ross today paid tribute to Williams, who has been on Breakfast "on and off" for 18 years and signed off from his last broadcast today.

Christie called it a "sad week on Breakfast ... It's the end of the road for a few of us as far as this show goes ... we're going to celebrate this morning by humiliating you ... by playing old footage".

They played one of Williams' first stories for the show - failing to nail a trick golf shot.

They also shared a video of Williams struggling to make it through a story about a parasailing donkey.

Unlike Christie and Chalmers-Ross, Williams is staying on as a weekend newsreader.

Christie has said he would "take a break and assess the new commercial opportunities in the fast-evolving media landscape".

And Chalmers-Ross said she was "excited about the opportunities on the horizon - and the prospect of turning off my 3am alarm".

Brodie Kane will also join Breakfast as a sports reporter, and weather presenter Sam Wallace is staying put.