A_Current_Affair

A Current Affair

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 on Sky News Australia on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

History

1971-1978

A Current Affair was first broadcast in Black & White on 22 November, 1971 with Mike Willesee, screening week nights at , and was broadcast for GTV-9. 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 competitions in the 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 timeslot and extended to five nights a week but ran until 1986.

1988 revival

On January 18th 1988, on the same week when Channel 7's Australian soap Home And Away was introduced, former 60 Minutes team presenter Jana Wendt became the very first host of the program when the title A Current Affair was revived.

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 whole 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. 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. After being a reporter for the program for many years, Mike Munro took over the hosting role in February 1999 as part of a very big major revamp for ACA.

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 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 with the program until the start of December 2005 when he signed out for the very last time, following strong competition from rival Seven Network. He retired.

During the 2005/2006 holiday period, not long after Ray Martin's retirement, the Nine Network announced that ACA was to be rested to enable a major revamp of the production to take place. It had seen its ratings decline for most of 2005 against the Seven Network's major rival program Today Tonight. New host Tracy Grimshaw took over as host of the show and launched on Monday 30 January 2006. During 2007, A Current Affair's ratings have sinced increased significantly, however still behind Today Tonight in network ratings.

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 was initially going to be presented by former newsreader Sonia Vinci, but she resigned prior to the show's commencement and was replaced by Louise Momber. 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.

From 16th June 2008, the filming of ACA officially moved to GTV-9 studios with host Tracy Grimshaw deciding to return to Melbourne. For the week prior to Grimshaw's move, Eddie McGuire filled in as host, also from Melbourne. ACA is still often presented from TCN-9 when Grimshaw is in Sydney, or if Leila McKinnon is filling in as host. For several months before the official move, ACA was often presented by Grimshaw from both Melbourne and Sydney. Currently, no set has been built at GTV-9, with a key being used.

Content

Like its main rival broadcast on the Seven Network, Today Tonight, A Current Affair is often considered to use sensationalist journalism - which has attracted parodies such as Frontline.

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
2005-present Tracy Grimshaw

Post-2006 special guest regulars: Leila McKinnon is the main fill-in presenter when Grimshaw is on holidays. Today show host Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire has both filled in for Tracy Grimshaw.