After 15 years of waking up at 3am to host ABC News Breakfast, Michael Rowland is calling it quits.
The co-host of the public broadcaster’s breakfast offering has told viewers his final show will be on 13 December, followed by a long break.
“I love working on News Breakfast,” Rowland said on Monday. “Every morning is a buzz and it’s by far the best job I’ve had at the ABC.
“But after 15 years of 3am starts my body is screaming ‘enough!’. The hours have finally caught up with me.”
Rowland, 55, is walking away six months after his former co-host Lisa Millar quit after five years to concentrate on television projects including Muster Dogs. Millar was replaced by Bridget Brennan. The sports presenter Tony Armstrong also left News Breakfast in October.
Rowland is the third male co-host of Breakfast after Barrie Cassidy and Joe O’Brien but the longest serving.
Speaking to Virginia Trioli on her podcast You Don’t Know Me in September, he revealed the downside of such a high-profile role in 15 hours of live TV a week.
“The toll it takes gets more pronounced every year – the hours, the horrible stories we have to cover as journalists presenting a news program,” he said.
“I find it is taking more of a toll on me, personally, on my family life, and I’m looking forward to something less intense.”
Rowland has mainly managed to walk the line between political interviews, breaking news and lighter fare which has seen him eating eye-watering chilli, steaming haggis and even fried insects.
“It has been a thrill interviewing everyone from prime ministers to Hollywood superstars,” he said. “On what other program can you switch from presenting hard news to diving into a chilli-eating competition or dancing the Nutbush (badly).”
Rowland famously annoyed the then Coalition health minister, Greg Hunt, when he questioned the use of a Liberal party logo on an ad for Covid vaccines.
“I know this is an issue for you,” Hunt said. “In many ways, you identify with the left.”
Rowland: “No, no, minister, I find that offensive.”
When a big political story broke, the Melbourne-based journalist would fly to Canberra to host Breakfast live from the scene: multiple leadership challenges saw him travel to Canberra five times in eight years. He also co-anchored with Millar the ABC coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth. The duo was among 12 ABC staff deployed to London to provide live reports and file stories around the clock.
For Rowland, a lasting memory is interviewing a distraught NSW transport minister and local MP, Andrew Constance, as he spoke of neighbours losing their homes during the 2020 bushfires.
The ABC director news, Justin Stevens, said Rowland was a familiar and trusted face.
“His ability to traverse serious reporting as well as lighter topics, and do it on live TV for three hours every morning, shows what a hugely talented broadcaster he is,” Stevens said.
When Rowland was in the US covering the election, his role was filled by the Australian Capital Territory newsreader James Glenday, who Guardian Australia tipped last month to replace him permanently.
Rowland shares the couch with Emma Rebellato, the sport presenter Charles Brice and the weather presenter Nate Byrne. Tyson Shine is the program’s executive producer.
