A Current Affair

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A Current Affair

A Current Affair title card
Also known as ACA
Genre Current affairs
Presented by Tracy Grimshaw
Country of origin Flag of Australia Australia
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 28
Production
Running time 25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Nine Network
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original run 22 November 197128 April 1978
25 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 and hosted by Tracy Grimshaw. It also airs nightly at 10.30 pm on Sky News Australia on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Contents

The program airs nationally at 6:30 pm week nights in all capital cities and is produced in the studios of TCN-9 in Sydney. 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, but also parodies such as Frontline. Like its rivals, it is a highly biased program. Its content frequently gives the impression of being commercial advertising under the guise of reporting. Despite its name it rarely includes current affairs, but instead offers mostly tabloid-style content.

  • Amanda Paterson
  • Ben McCormack
  • Nick Coe
  • Chris Allen
  • David Eccleston
  • Mazoe Ford
  • Elise Mooney
  • Ben Fordham
  • Kate Donnison
  • Majella Wiemers
  • Martin King
  • Peter Stefanovic
  • Simon Bouda
  • Brady Halls

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 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. In 1988, former 60 Minutes reporter Jana Wendt took over as host of the program and the title A Current Affair was re-instated.

Jana Wendt left the program at the end of 1992, replaced by Mike Willesee. Ray Martin took over from Mike in 1994. It was during Martin's tenure that the show embarked upon its sensationalist format. 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. Mike Munro took over the hosting role in 1999 after being a reporter for the program. Mike Munro was removed from the program in 2002 and returned to This Is Your Life, 60 Minutes and later National Nine News in Sydney and Darwin. Ray Martin returned in 2003 and signed off at the start of December 2005, after unimpressive ratings.

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 that year's AFL Grand Final. The program was short-lived due to the strong competition of 7's local Today Tonight.

Over the 2005/2006 summer, ACA was 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 on Monday 30 January 2006. During 2007, A Current Affair's ratings have sinced increased significantly, however still behind Today Tonight in network ratings.

Karl Stefanovic is the main replacement for Tracy Grimshaw if she is sick while Leila McKinnon hosts A Current Affair in the summer period.

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