RN Breakfast, previously Radio National Breakfast and sometimes shortened to Breakfast, is a national early morning news program in Australia, broadcast since 2005. The program is broadcast live in the eastern states, and on delay in other states, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National network. It can also be listened to online.

Initially hosted by Peter Thompson from 1994, the program has been hosted by Fran Kelly since 2005 until 2021. In October 2021, Kelly announced her resignation after 17 years at the helm. Patricia Karvelas now hosts the program.

History

The program was hosted by Peter Thompson from 1994, who took a break from the show between 1999 and 2002 before rejoining for a further two years. At the end of 2004 he left the show again, citing his reason for resignation as being simply too much work for one person.^[1] Fran Kelly took over as host in March 2005; she announced her retirement from the position on 21 October 2021, saying that after 17 years, she needed to reclaim her sleep.^[2]

In December 2021, Patricia Karvelas was announced as Kelly's replacement.^[3][4] The program is broadcast in two segments (6.00 to 7.00 and 7.30 to 8.30) before and after the current affairs program AM at 7.00. Hamish Macdonald hosts the show on Monday and Patricia Karvelas from Tuesday to Friday due to Karvelas hosting Q+A.

A weekend edition, called Saturday Extra, is hosted by journalist Geraldine Doogue and is broadcast from 7.30 am to 9.00 am AEST.^{[citation needed]}

The program begins officially at 6.10 am following the hourly news broadcast. The news broadcasts are state-based and occur on the hour, every hour, with the traditional "Majestic Fanfare" tune.^{[citation needed]}

About four items are presented each hour, with longer items earlier in the program. These include a mix of reports from ABC correspondents, reports from the BBC and CNN, as well as interviews with a variety of people, including federal and state politicians, prominent commentators, persons of interest, celebrities and ordinary people who are in the middle of news stories.^{[citation needed]}

At 7.10 am, after the 7.00 news, Breakfast switches over to AM, which runs from 7.10 am until 7.30 am, after which Breakfast returns.

Hosts

Hosts of the show include:^{[citation needed]}

• Peter Thompson, January 1994 – December 1999, January 2003 – December 2004
• Vivian Schenker, January 2000 – December 2002
• Fran Kelly, March 2005 – December 2021
• Patricia Karvelas, January 2022 – present
• Geraldine Doogue, weekend host and fill-in host
• Norman Swan, fill-in host

Contributors

There are several regular contributors to the program:^{[citation needed]}

• Warwick Hadfield - sport reporter.
• Matt Bevan - Newsreader and international reporter
• Alison Carabine – Canberra reporter

Recognition and acclaim

Radio National Breakfast, while lower in ratings than most other state and local radio programs, has, as a national program, one of the highest listener numbers for any early morning program in Australia. In particular it is regarded as the program which federal Australian politicians listen to, particularly given its focus on national politics. Former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, was known to be a fan of the program and regularly appeared for interviews.^{[citation needed]}