KEY POINTS:
Carly Flynn and James Coleman are the faces of new TV3 breakfast television show Sunrise - but they will have a battle on their hands to attract viewers in an already tight morning market.
Flynn and Coleman will front the new TV3 current affairs show to screen on
weekdays from 6.30am until 8.30am, starting in early October.
Twenty-nine-year-old Flynn (nee Kirkwood) has been the anchorwoman of Nightline, TV3's late-night news show, for three years, after joining the channel in 2003.
Meanwhile, Coleman (39) who presented C4's Flashbacks show two years ago, has worked in breakfast radio, on Channel Z, and recently hosted Radio Live's Drive show.
While TV3 claims it will draw viewers in through its 2007 Rugby World Cup coverage - which Sunrise's launch will coincide with - the small breakfast market will be hard to break into.
The show will be executive produced by Claire Watson (former producer of TV One's Breakfast) and will be a traditional morning format, with the earlier part focused on business news, becoming more entertainment-focused over the duration.
TV3 director of news and current affairs Mark Jennings acknowledged it would be tough to draw viewers away from Breakfast, which currently has an average audience of 121,733 people - although that rises to around 140,000 at peak viewing at 7.30am.
"Viewers have been watching TVNZ for 10 years, so we do have to break that habit. I'm confident, but I don't have unrealistic expectations. "
However, Jennings was confident TV3 could use the World Cup footage to its advantage in introducing people to the show. He also referred to the recent "flurry of changes" within the Breakfast team, which will mean a readjustment period for the TV One show and its viewers just as Sunrise is starting.
Head of the New Zealand Broadcasting School Paul Norris said the small market for breakfast television here, and a need to attract plenty of advertising for the early morning slot, would make it a tough couple of months for the start of Sunrise.
"We don't really have any tradition of watching breakfast television in this country... unless you break the mould and find some way of weaning people away from breakfast radio which is pretty strong here."
Norris suggested the programme will need to attract people who currently do not watch any breakfast television at all, as well as stealing viewers from the established Breakfast.
The all-important presenting team also look young, although Norris pointed out TV3 have always targeted the 18-49 year old demographic, while Breakfast's highest viewer numbers come from the slightly older group of 25-54-year-olds. Flynn believed the 10-year age gap between her and Coleman meant they had the spectrum covered.
Norris said Flynn and Coleman were an interesting choice for the presenting roles.
"These two are experienced media professionals, but it will be effectively a fresh team working together, an opportunity to test James in the television medium, and to see what the chemistry is like between them, because that is pretty vital."
Flynn said she would miss her spot on Nightline. "The major difference will be that I'm not going to be a newsreader anymore, and there's going to be a lot more of me out there for people to see," she said. "We're just going to go and be ourselves and people will either love us or..."
"Hate us!" exclaimed Coleman, showing a good rapport between the two - something seen as extra important following the criticism of Breakfast's awkward former pairing of Paul Henry and Kay Gregory. Former One News journalist Pippa Wetzell was announced last week as Gregory's replacement.
Jennings said he was impressed at the instant bond between the two presenters. "I think the partnership is the most important thing in breakfast television, because it's a live two-hour show and you need that sort of dynamic to flow through those shows, otherwise they tend to become a bit of a drag."
He said Flynn had a strong news background, and was warm and relaxed onscreen, while Coleman had proven he had a strong news sense and had a personality "that will grow on people".
The presenters agreed their biggest challenge would be the early starts - particularly for Flynn, who has been sleeping in after her late-night role for the past three years.
Jennings said TV3 was currently looking for a replacement for Flynn on Nightline.
