Breakfast television facts for kids
Imagine waking up and turning on the TV while you get ready for school or eat breakfast. That's what breakfast television (also called a morning show in the United States) is all about! These are special TV shows that broadcast live in the morning, usually between 5:00 and 10:00 a.m. They are often hosted by a small team of presenters and are made for people getting ready for work or school, and for adults who stay at home.
The very first national morning show was Today, which started on January 14, 1952, on NBC in the United States. It set the style for many other morning shows around the world. For many years, Today was the most popular morning show.
Contents
What Are Morning Shows Like?
Morning shows are designed to be popular and appeal to many different people.
Early Morning News
The first part of a morning show often focuses on important news. This includes updates on big stories from the night before, politics news, business and sports headlines, and weather forecasts. Local shows often add traffic reporting to help people on their way to school or work.
Later Morning Fun
Later in the show, the focus often shifts to more relaxed topics. These are sometimes called "infotainment" segments. They include interesting human-interest stories, tips for daily life, and entertainment news. Many local morning shows also feature reports about local events, fun places to visit, or interesting businesses in the area.
Local Updates and Tickers
National morning shows often take short breaks so local TV stations can share quick news updates. These local updates usually cover major local headlines, weather, and sometimes traffic. In the U.S., some shows even let local stations add their own short weather forecasts into the national weather report.
During the early morning, local anchors often mention the current time and temperature. You might also see the time and temperature on the screen, usually in a small graphic. Many news-focused morning shows also have a news ticker (a scrolling line of text) at the bottom of the screen. This ticker shows headlines, weather, sports scores, and even lottery numbers.
Live Across Time Zones
In the United States, big morning shows like CBS Mornings, Today, and Good Morning America are broadcast live only in the Eastern Time Zone. Stations in other time zones show these programs a bit later, like a recorded version. However, if there's a really important breaking news story or a special event, these shows will sometimes go live across the entire country at the same time.
A Look Back: Morning Show History
Morning shows have a cool history, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.
United States Morning Shows
The very first local morning news program was Three To Get Ready, which aired in Philadelphia from 1950 to 1952. It was mostly entertainment but had some news and weather. Its success inspired NBC to create Today in January 1952, which was the first national morning news show. Many other networks then copied its successful mix of news, lifestyle stories, and friendly hosts.
Network Challenges and Successes
- CBS has had a tough time keeping a popular morning show for a long time. They tried to copy Today in 1954 but later focused on children's shows like Captain Kangaroo. They've tried many different formats and names over the years, like CBS Morning News and CBS This Morning.
- ABC joined the morning show competition a bit later. They started with local shows like AM Los Angeles. In 1975, they launched Good Morning America (GMA), which became very popular. GMA has often been the second most-watched morning show, sometimes even beating Today.
- Fox doesn't have a national morning show like the others. Instead, their local stations often have their own morning news programs, which are very popular in their areas.
- Spanish-language networks also have popular morning shows in the U.S., like ¡Despierta América! (Wake Up America!) on Univision, which is known for its lively and festive style.
Local Morning News Grows
Local TV stations started making their own morning shows in the 1970s. These often mixed news and weather with talk and lifestyle segments, just like the national shows. Over time, these local news programs have grown. They now often start earlier, sometimes as early as 4:00 a.m., and last for several hours, competing with the national shows. This growth of local news has also meant fewer children's TV shows are aired in the mornings on regular TV channels.
Morning Shows on Cable TV
Cable news channels have also created their own morning shows.
- Fox News has Fox & Friends.
- CNN has Early Start and New Day.
- MSNBC has Morning Joe, which is known for its talk-radio style and panel discussions.
- The Weather Channel has shows like America's Morning Headquarters that mix weather forecasts with fun segments.
- Even sports channels like ESPN have morning shows, like SportsCenter for highlights and Get Up! for sports talk.
United Kingdom Breakfast Television
In the United Kingdom, breakfast television usually runs from 6:00 a.m. to around 9:15 or 10:00 a.m.
Early Days and Regulations
For a long time, the British government controlled how many hours TV channels could broadcast each day. In the mid-1960s, channels could only broadcast for about 50 hours a week. This meant there wasn't much time for morning TV. But in 1972, these rules were changed, allowing channels to broadcast more hours. Even with new rules, it took a while for breakfast TV to really take off because of money problems in the 1970s.
The Rise of UK Breakfast TV
After some trials, the Independent Broadcasting Authority decided breakfast TV was important enough to create a special license for it. This license was given to a company called TV-am. However, the BBC launched its own morning show, Breakfast Time, first on January 17, 1983. TV-am followed shortly after with Good Morning Britain on February 1.
At first, TV-am struggled because its style was more formal compared to the BBC's relaxed magazine-style show. But it eventually became successful. Later, TV-am lost its license to another company called GMTV in 1993.
In recent years, ITV (the main commercial TV network) took full control of GMTV and changed its name to ITV Breakfast. They launched new shows like Daybreak and Lorraine. Daybreak later changed to the current Good Morning Britain in 2014. This show often includes political discussions and tries to mix the traditional Today format with debates.
Morning Shows Around the World
Many countries around the world have their own versions of breakfast television or morning shows. These shows often mix news, weather, and entertainment, just like in the United States and the United Kingdom. They are a popular way for people to start their day with information and a bit of fun.
