Sunrise’s iconic ‘Brekky Central’ studio in Sydney CBD is now for RENT: ‘A massive loss’

Sunrise’s 19-year history of broadcasting from Sydney’s iconic Martin Place in the Sydney CBD is drawing to a close, with leases signed in front of its headquarters.

David Koch, Natalie Barr and everyone else who works for Channel Seven in the city will soon join the rest of their colleagues in Eveleigh, in the inner suburb of Redfern.

But the team at Australia’s most popular breakfast show are eager for the move, and executive producer Sean Power says it will allow the show to ‘better tell the stories’.

The move to Eveleigh, which began in 2018, will for the first time in 40 years bring all of Seven Sydney’s divisions together in one place.

The move to 52 Martin Place was supposed to be complete by the end of 2022, but now it looks like it will take until May for everyone to move into Eveleigh.

“Seven Eveleigh will have seven floors and will include new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art studios and facilities for our news and public affairs programs and for the people,” Seven West Media chief executive James Warburton said when the plans were announced. .

Mr Power said that moving will allow the show to make use of a much larger space to bolster its storytelling.

A lease sign is seen on Thursday February 2, 2023 in front of the Channel 7 headquarters in Sydney

Channel Seven’s address of 52 Martin Place (pictured) has been synonymous with the station for nearly two decades.

“Martin Place has been a great home for Seven and Sunrise for a long time, but part of everything that’s great is evolution,” he said. media week.

“I think as we start to share more about what that looks like, what the set looks like, and what the show is going to feel like, people who are lifelong Sunrise viewers will say that we’ve had a lot of respect for that.

‘There is a limit to the reequipment you can do. We’re so constrained with size – an incredible amount of live TV comes out of a very, very small space (in Martin Place).

“In this next location, it’s going to be about the combination of still feeling very comfortable and homey, but incorporating all of that new technology that ultimately allows us to better tell the stories.”

The Martin Place location has hosted some of the world’s biggest acts including Justin Bieber and One Direction.

Channel Seven’s logo is displayed at its Sydney CBD location in Martin Place, but the entire operation will soon be moving to Eveleigh.

It became internationally known in December 2014 when there was a siege at a cafe directly across the street when lone Islamist gunman Man Haron Monis took hostages and killed one person.

Channel Seven cameras were pointed directly at the cafe across the street for hours until Monis insisted they be turned off.

Monis and one of the hostages were killed when police stormed the facility in the early hours of December 16.

Although Channel Seven will be gone from Martin Place in a few months, it still has some time left on its lease.

The fact that it has been used as TV studios and offices for so long means that it will probably need a major refurbishment before another tenant moves in.

The five floors and 3,500 square meters of space that Seven occupied could be empty for some time before reopening as just another business.

There has been interest in taking over the lease from high-end retailers, supermarket chains, and government agencies.

Australians were mostly upset by the decision.

“However they want to turn this around, it seems like a huge loss to me, mainly for Sunrise. It’s part of that shows the DNA and it’s always been a huge benefit for live performances.

Another added: ‘This studio is separate from Sunrise. It’s what made it the giant it is today and what makes them different. It is the point of difference between the brekkie shows. It will be a great loss.

‘Now it’s just going to be another show in a studio. Everleigh is a terrible place to get to if they ever do live concerts etc. It’s so far away. I get that it’s a cost cutting measure, but yeah, I guess that’s where TV is headed.

A third added: “It could be cheaper and it’s possible to use a generic studio, but you’d lose the vibe of being broadcast from the Sydney CBD, especially when you can see the traffic and people in the background.”