A Current Affair (U.S. TV program)

A Current Affair
A Current Affair logo.
Genre Television news magazine
Presented by Maury Povich (1986–1990)
Maureen O'Boyle (1990–1994)
Jim Ryan (1994)
Penny Daniels (1994–1995)
Jon Scott (1995–1996)
Tim Green (2005)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) Peter Brennan
Editor(s) Burt Kearns
Running time 22–24 minutes
Production company(s) 20th Century Fox Television
Distributor 20th Television
Release
Original network Syndication
Original release July 28, 1986 (1986-07-28) – August 30, 1996 (1996-08-30)
March 21, 2005 (2005-03-21) – October 28, 2005 (2005-10-28)

A Current Affair is an American television newsmagazine program that aired in syndication from July 28, 1986, to August 30, 1996, before reappearing briefly in March 2005. The program was produced by 20th Century Fox,[1] and long based at Fox's New York flagship station WNYW.

Overview

Maury Povich and WNYW news anchors Maureen O'Boyle and Jim Ryan both served as program's hosts during its original run. Its creator and producer was Peter Brennan. One of its lead personalities was Steve Dunleavy, a columnist for the New York Post, which like WNYW and Fox Television is part of the News Corporation empire.

Initially, the program was broadcast as an irreverent, late-night New York City broadcast on WNYW, but as it expanded, and under the direction of Brennan and producers Burt Kearns and Wayne Darwen, the program began to cover stories throughout America that were overlooked or ignored by the then-dominant network news organizations.

The logo of the program is a distinctive pyramid with a "zoom-like" sound effect (immortalized as the "ka-chung") for a theme. While showing some hard news stories, the focus of the program is often entertainment, scandals, gossip and exploitative tabloid journalism. It was popular during the 1990s when magazine-type news shows were common during daytime television. Its main competitors were Hard Copy and Inside Edition (the latter of which remains on the air today), along with the many talk shows that dominated daytime TV during the 1990s.[2]

Revival

On March 21, 2005, the program was revived after a nine-year hiatus. Former Atlanta Falcons defensive end and lawyer Tim Green hosted the new edition,[3] known unofficially as ACA 2. In resurrecting the show, Fox gave the program a more serious tone by covering more news and crime, rather than entertainment-oriented stories. As with the original incarnation, overt politicizing was left out of the program. It aired on all Fox owned and operated stations (O&Os). This resurrection would be short- lived, however, as the departure from the Fox organization of Lachlan Murdoch and his replacement by Fox News chief Roger Ailes led to Fox's announcement that Ailes would replace the program with Geraldo at Large in November 2005, only seven months after ACA 2 premiered.

Suspicions that Ailes pulled the program because the ACA team was competing with, and sometimes besting, his cable Fox News Channel, were intensified in October 2005, when, after its cancellation was announced, ACA broadcast an exclusive interview with Natalee Holloway murder suspect Joran van der Sloot, and Rivera revealed to the press that Ailes planned to use the timeslot as a beachhead for the establishment of a Fox News nightly newscast.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007-10-17). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 306. ISBN 0-345-49773-2.
  2. ↑ "Tabloid Baby".
  3. ↑ "'A Current Affair' to return to television". msnbc.msn.com. 2005-01-13.
  4. ↑ Geraldo Rivera to Launch New News Program From Twentieth Television in November
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