ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program reveals new host

The ABC’s flagship political radio program has suffered declining audiences under host Patricia Karvelas and is having a major overhaul in 2025 to win listeners back.

ABC radio presenter Sally Sara.

ABC’s flagship political radio program RN Breakfast will be overhauled in 2025 with journalist Sally Sara replacing outgoing presenter Patricia Karvelas.

On Friday morning the ABC announced Sara will begin in the role next year and take over from Karvelas who has suffered declining audiences during her three year tenure.

Under Karvelas’s helm RN Breakfast has continued to shed listeners and in the latest radio ratings released in October it showed the program lost listeners in three of the key major city markets including Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Patricia Karvelas took on RN Breakfast from Fran Kelly.

In an overhaul of the program, joining Sara on RN Breakfast will be political correspondent Melissa Clarke, business correspondent Peter Ryan and news presenter Luke Siddham Dundon.

Chair Kim Williams has publicly voiced his concern about the station’s struggle to attract audiences and in June he said in an interview with Karvelas: “I would like to see larger audiences for Radio National.

“I would like to see Radio National lift its ambitions in terms of its role in Australia”.

Sara said in a statement she is, “extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Radio National Breakfast team”.

In the latest radio ratings survey it showed Karvelas has lost over 10.6 per cent of her audience in the past 12 months.

Fran Kelly hosted RN Breakfast for 17 years until the end of 2021 before Karvelas took over.

In 2022 Karvelas caused controversy after posting on social media on the night of the federal election a selfie with the former federal minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and described her as a “legend”.

She was cautioned over the post.

This woman is a legend and looks like she will be the next Indigenous affairs minister #UluruStatementpic.twitter.com/l0UtPZUjLQ

— Patricia Karvelas (@PatsKarvelas) May 21, 2022

Despite Karvelas’s falling ratings she said earlier in the week she was “excited” to be hosting ABC program Afternoon Briefing which airs at 4pm on weekdays on the ABC news channel.

RN Breakfast has had a mixture of hosts in 2024 with the program predominantly led by Karvelas, while also being anchored by Sara and Steve Cannane.

The overhauled program will start on January 20 and it will begin half an earlier each day, airing from 5.30am AEDT to 9am.

Originally published as ABC’s Radio National Breakfast program reveals new host