''The 7.30 Report'' is an Australian week-nightly television current affairs program, which was shown on
ABC1
ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...
and
ABC News 24 at from 1986 to 2011. In 2011, it evolved into ''
7.30'', a revamped current affairs program.
History
''The 7.30 Report'' began on 28 January 1986, screening Tuesday to Friday evenings. The program extended to Mondays the following year.
Until the end of 1995
the program had separate editions for each state and territory, presented by
Alan Carpenter,
Mary Delahunty,
Quentin Dempster,
Trisha Goddard
Patricia Gloria Goddard (born 23 December 1957) is a British television presenter. From 1998 to 2010, she presented the talk show '' Trisha'', which was broadcast in a mid-morning slot on ITV, before later being moved to Channel 5. She also h ...
,
Sarah Henderson,
Jane Singleton, Genevieve Hussey, John Jost,
Leigh McClusky,
Kelly Nestor, and
Andrew Olle.
Kerry O'Brien took over as the presenter of the national program on 4 December 1995,
with
Maxine McKew serving as the main relief presenter until 2006.
O'Brien remained the editor and presenter of the program from the time it went national. He announced in 2010 that he would be leaving at the end of the year.
He presented his final edition of the program on 9 December 2010.
In February 1996, the Friday episode of the show was replaced with ''
Stateline'', a similar show with a separate edition for each state and territory.
2011 changes
The ABC announced in December 2010 that the program would return in 2011 in a new form, under the name ''
7.30''.
The revamped program was first presented by
Leigh Sales
Leigh Peta Sales (born 10 May 1973) is an Australian journalist and author, best known for her work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). She has won three Walkley Awards, and in 2023 was nominated for the Gold Logie Award for M ...
from Sydney.
Chris Uhlmann was ''
7.30'''s first political editor and Canberra presenter.
The ABC also announced that Stateline would be folded into the ''7.30'' program. The change saw ''7.30'' extended to five nights a week, although Friday editions continued to be presented locally and focus on state affairs.
Format
The program usually comprised several pre-recorded items and live interviews, focusing on issues of national or global significance. The program traditionally featured interviews with politicians.
Reporters in its last season included: Tracy Bowden, Matt Peacock,
Andy Park, Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Dylan Welch,
Louise Milligan, Madeleine Morris, Conor Duffy, Sarah Whyte, David Lewis, Monique Schafter, Alex Mann, Michael Atkin, and political editor Sabra Lane.
Former reporters had included political editor Heather Ewart, Deborah Cornwall, Greg Hoy,
Mark Willacy, Michael Brissenden, Murray McLaughlin, Mary Gearin, Mike Sexton, John Taylor, Peter McCutcheon,
Paul Lockyer, Lisa Whitehead, Natasha Johnson, David Mark, Genevieve Hussey, Mark Bannerman and Jonathan Harley.
Paul Lyneham also hosted ''The 7.30 Report'' for several years.
Until 2010, satirists
John Clarke and
Bryan Dawe presented a (usually) weekly
mock interview covering a topical issue.
Dawe played the interviewer, while Clarke played a prominent public figure but, unusually for satire, he deliberately made no attempt to imitate the appearance, voice, or mannerisms of the person he portrayed. When portraying
Julia Gillard he placed a flower pot behind him to give the impression of him being a woman. These interviews were a continuation of the pair's work for ''
A Current Affair'', beginning in 1989, for which they won a number of
awards.
See also
*
List of Australian television series
*
List of programs broadcast by ABC (Australian TV network)
References
External links
Official siteThe 7.30 Report at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:7.30 Report
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
1986 Australian television series debuts
2011 Australian television series endings
1990s Australian television series
2000s Australian television series
ABC News and Current Affairs