A Current Affair
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| A Current Affair | |
|---|---|
 A Current Affair title card since 2006. |
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| Also known as | ACA |
| Genre | Current affairs |
| Presented by | Tracy Grimshaw |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 28 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Sydney, Australia (January 18, 1988 – June 13, 2008) Melbourne, Australia (June 16, 2008 – beyond) |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Original run | 22 November 1971 – 28 April 1978 18 January 1988 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
A Current Affair (or "ACA") is a nightly tabloid current affairs programme, broadcast on the Nine Network every week night, hosted by Tracy Grimshaw. It also airs nightly at 10.30 pm on Sky News Australia on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Contents |
[edit] Content
Like its main rival broadcast on the Seven Network, Today Tonight, A Current Affair is often considered to use sensationalist journalism - resulting in its popularity with a large section of its target audience[neutrality disputed], but also parodies such as Frontline.
[edit] Current Reporters
- Amanda Paterson
- Ben McCormack
- Nick Coe
- Chris Allen
- David Eccleston
- Nick Eitchells
- Mazoe Ford
- Elise Mooney
- Ben Fordham
- Kate Donnison
- Martin King
- Peter Stefanovic
- Simon Bouda
- Brady Halls (also the host of Friday's The Brady Bunch segment, following the launch in 2006)
- Glen Moriarty
[edit] Hosts
1971 Version:
- 1971-1974 Mike Willesee
- 1974-1978 Mike Minehan, Sue Smith and Kevin Sanders
1988 Version:
- 1988-1992 Jana Wendt
- 1993 Mike Willesee
- 1994-1998 Ray Martin
- 1999-2002 Mike Munro
- 2003-2005 Ray Martin
- 2006-beyond Tracy Grimshaw
Fill-in hosts: Karl Stefanovic, Leila McKinnon and Eddie McGuire.
[edit] State Version Hosts
Adelaide Hosts
- 2002 Only Georgina McGuinness
- 2008-beyond TBD
Perth Hosts
- 2008-beyond Sonia Vinci
[edit] 1971-1978 History
A Current Affair was first broadcast on 22 November 1971 with Mike Willesee, screening week nights at 7.00 pm. When Willesee left Nine in 1974 to move to the rival 0-10 Network, journalist Mike Minehan took over presenting the program. In addition, the comedian and actor Paul Hogan had a comedy segment during the early episodes. The program ended on 28 April 1978 following strong competition in the 7.00 pm timeslot from Willesee at Seven on Seven Network and Graham Kennedy's Blankety Blanks on 0-10. In 1984, Willesee returned to the Nine Network to present a mid-evening current affairs program titled Willesee, screening Monday to Thursday nights at 9.30pm. The following year, Willesee moved to the earlier 6.30 pm timeslot and extended to five nights a week.
[edit] 1988 revival
In January 1988, on the same month Australian soap Home And Away started, former 60 Minutes team presenter Jana Wendt won the role as host of the program when the title A Current Affair was revivied with a major revamp.
Followed by the strong competition of Channel Seven's Real Life (later to become Today Tonight in 1995), Jana Wendt left the program in November 1992. In 1993, 1970s ACA host Mike Willesee took the chair for the year, and in February 1994 Ray Martin took over from Willisee. It was during Martin's tenure that the show embarked upon its sensationalist format[neutrality disputed]. Martin eshewed focus upon quality journalism pursued by his predecessors Willesee and Wendt, in an attempt to maximise ratings and the program's appeal to its target audience[neutrality disputed]. Mike Munro took over the hosting role in February 1999 after being a reporter for the program for many years.
In 2002, NWS-9 in Adelaide produced a local version of the program hosted by weekend newsreader Georgina McGuinness. It carried national stories, but featured more local stories including the lead up to the 2002's AFL Grand Final. The Adelaide edition was shortened due to the very heavy competition of Channel Seven Adelaide's Today Tonight.
At the end of 2002, and just days before long-time newsreader Brian Henderson's retirement from reading Channel 9's Sydney News, Mike Munro was removed from the program and returned to This Is Your Life, 60 Minutes and later National Nine News in Sydney and Darwin. Following Mike Munro's departure, Ray Martin returned to the hosting role of ACA in February 2003. Martin continued until the start of December 2005 when he signed out of the show for the last time, following strong competition from rival Today Tonight[citation needed].
Over the 2005/2006 holiday period, the Nine Network announced that ACA was to be rested to enable a major revamp of the program to take place. A Current Affair had seen its ratings decline for most of 2005 against the Seven Network's rival program Today Tonight[citation needed]. Tracy Grimshaw took over as host of the show and premiered on Monday 30 January 2006. During 2007, A Current Affair's ratings have sinced increased significantly[citation needed], however still behind Today Tonight in network ratings[citation needed].
On June 16th 2008, after 20 Years at TCN-9 since the show began in 1988, the program shifted from Sydney's TCN-9's studios in Willoughby to Melbourne's GTV-9's studios in Richmond, with host Tracy Grimhaw moving to Melbourne.
In January 2008, WIN Corporation announced that a new local version of ACA would be produced in Western Australia to replace the east coast program hosted by Tracy Grimshaw. The program will be presented by former newsreader Sonia Vinci. This will be the first time a separate version to the main bulletin has been produced since Adelaide axed their own version in 2002.
In June 2008, WIN Corporation also announced that a local version of ACA will be also be reinstated in Adelaide.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- A Current Affair at the Internet Movie Database
- A Current Affair at TV.com
- A Current Affair at the National Film and Sound Archive
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