Who is Australia’s Best Breakfast Personality?

There are some outstanding breakfast personalities on radio – Amanda Keller, Eddie McGuire, Kyle Sandilands, Fi Fi Box, Fitzy (congrats on 10 years), Jackie O, Alan Jones, Mick Molloy, Chrissie Swan, Mart Sheargold, Matty Johns, Robyn Bailey and countless others. 

But when, (we) radio types step outside the box (or the radio), we find there are other sources of entertainment, information and personalities first thing in the morning.

Radio competes with the entire media landscape offering at breakfast time – online, TV, newspapers etc.  Personalities, of course, are critical to radio. Especially at breakfast.

Researcher Mark Kassof recently published a summary of findings on the importance of personalities on radio. It showed how much difference personalities made. 47% of all respondents said they make it a lot better to listen to. Another 39%, said a little better. That’s a total of 86% say that personalities, make the radio better. And the same goes for TV, especially breakfast TV shows.

So, who is the best breakfast personality in Australia…. ( drum roll please)

The best breakfast personality in Australia is….

Karl Stefanovic. 

Karl, who celebrated his 40^th birthday last weekend is on Nine's national Today breakfast show and is one of the best all rounders in Australian media.

So, why is Karl Australia’s best breakfast personality?

And, what can breakfast talent learn from Karl?

Authentic – Karl is authentic. What you see and hear is Karl, being himself, being natural, he’s authentic.

Likeable – He’s very likeable, he’s the sort of person you would invite around for a BBQ. He’s warm, fun and friendly.

Relatable – Karl comes across as an everyday ‘ bloke ‘ Viewers can relate to him. He has no ‘airs’ and ‘graces’ He’s normal and very relatable.

Preparation – Karl’s team have done their research. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s always well prepared and knows about news topics of the day and his interview subjects.

Emotional Range – Karl has ER . He has a wide emotional range where he can go from a hard hitting political story to something fun and light, to a warm and fuzzy or a sad tragic story.

Self effacing – A great and important quality. He may be a big TV star but he can still have a joke at his own experience.

Fun – It’s easy to see that Karl enjoys what he does and has fun doing it.

Feisty – Karl can be feisty and stands up for himself .He isn’t afraid to put forward an alternative argument and stand his ground against other cast members

Team Player – He’s a key part of the Nine breakfast team, he’s also a strong team player, and is generous with the rest of the Today cast.

Empathy – Karl has empathy and shows it in the right situations.

Humorous – Karl knows he’s not a comedian, so he doesn't try to be funny, but he is fun.  There’s a big difference.  

Work ethic – Karl works hard, researching and preparing for the Today show and also he works tirelessly doing station promotions and appearances.

Stories – He has the ability to ‘ tell a good story ‘, people love hearing stories.

Generator & Reactor – Karl has the ability to do both. He generates stories and content and is equally at home as a reactor to content from the other cast members.

Trust – He is someone you would trust. The type of guy you would be comfortable confiding in.

Reliable – Karl generally says and does the right thing. Viewers can ‘count on ‘ Karl to say and do the right thing.

Pitches in – When the 2010/2011 Queensland floods happened Karl was on the spot, reporting live, helping out. He jumps in and gets his hands dirty .

Brad March is a Director of Radio Today, is a former CEO of Austereo and has been named Media Executive of the Year. He’s Director of Marchmedia and Pacific Retail Management.