Former Sunrise star Mark Beretta may have left the early morning starts behind him – but he’s spilling the beans on what went on behind the scenes during his time on the hit Channel Seven show.
Mark, 60, who quit his role as sports presenter after 22-years on the brekky programme in December 2025, sat down with the Dos and D podcast to share intriguing details that viewers might not know.
While Mark described his time on Sunrise – where he worked with the likes of David “Kochie” Koch, Melissa Doyle, Sam Armytage, Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington – as “22 years of really magic times”, he also got candid about the reality of morning TV.
“The network rivalry is massive. Between Seven and Nine, particularly, but then Sunrise and Today were sort of at the forefront of that,” the star told the hosts on the September 7 episode of the show.
“You know they were the real shows that just went ‘bam’ at each other because it was a big competition space and what I mean by that is the theory was if you won breakfast people would either leave the TV on that channel for the rest of the day or they would go to work with the channel on seven they would come home flick the TV on and it’s on seven and you’ve got a head start.”
Mark described how, during his time there, breakfast TV became an “incredible battleground”.
“And that’s why it got so much attention… and that’s why it was a war,” he explained.
Mark went on to describe exactly how teams would operate behind the scenes.
“The rivalry was incredible, and the checking out the opposition was thorough,” he said.
“We knew what when we were watching in the control room. The shows watch each other, you know, and I think we all know that.
“It’s the same in the news. You’lll see the lineup if you watch both stations together at news time. The lineups are pretty similar. So both stations are watching each other, and keeping a close eye on the competition.”
So if there’s intense rivalry on air, what about personal relationships off-air? When Mark was quizzed about whether he’d catch up with Karl Stefanovic, he had a response that may surprise some.
“Karl’s a good mate. Actually, we hang out a bit, and I’ve got a lot of time for him,” Mark shared.
“How would I best describe Karl? He’s an incredible television interviewer and host, and probably… one of the most talented people to ever work in Australian television, I reckon.”
The star pointed to Karl’s ability to connect with people as a “remarkable” skill – one that his former colleagues Kochie, Sam, Nat and Melissa also demonstrated with ease.
“The rigors and the challenges of breakfast TV are like nothing else,” Mark concluded.
“There’s nothing else like that. 6pm News, you’re reading introductions, things like A Current Affair you read four lines into a story or something, but [with] breakfast TV [there’s] just nowhere to hide. It’s on.”
