''A Current Affair'' is an American

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

program that aired in syndication from July 28, 1986, to August 30, 1996, before it was briefly rebroadcast from March to October 2005. The program was produced by

Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...

, and based at Fox's

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

flagship station

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secauc ...

, starting as a local production in 1986. It was syndicated to Fox's other

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

s the next year, and then went into full national syndication in September 1988. Its signature "ka-chung" sound effect was created using a combination of the sound of a construction paper cutter and the swing of a golf club put through a synthesizer.

Overview

The program was originally hosted by Maury Povich. In the fall of 1990, Maureen O'Boyle replaced Povich and continued to host until May 1994. Jim Ryan then became interim host for the summer of 1994. Penny Daniels became host for the 1994–95 season and for what ultimately became the show's final season, Jon Scott subsequently took her place. Its creator and producer was Peter Brennan. One of its lead personalities was Steve Dunleavy, a columnist for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

''; at the time of the show's launch the ''Post'', WNYW, Fox Television Stations and syndicator

20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

were units of the original iteration of

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

. Initially, the program was broadcast as an irreverent, late-night 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 A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

of the program is a distinctive

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

with a "zoom-like" sound effect (immortalized as the "ka-chung") for a theme. While showing some

hard news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

stories, the focus of the program is often entertainment, scandals, gossip and exploitative

tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

. It was popular during the 1990s when magazine-type news shows were common during daytime television. Its main competitors were ''

Hard Copy In information handling, the U.S. Federal Standard 1037C (Glossary of Telecommunication Terms) defines a hard copy as a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person (in par ...

'' and ''

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...

'' (the latter of which remains on the air today), along with the many talk shows that dominated daytime TV during the 1990s.

Revival

On March 21, 2005, the program was revived after a nine-year hiatus. Former

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and lawyer Tim Green hosted the new edition, unofficially known as ''ACA 2''. In resurrecting the show, 20th Television gave it a more serious tone by covering more news and crime, rather than entertainment-oriented stories. As with its original incarnation, overt politicizing was left out of the new program. It aired on all Fox owned and operated stations ( O&Os including UPN affiliates). This resurrection would be short- lived, however, as the departure from the Fox organization of

Lachlan Murdoch Lachlan Keith Murdoch (; born 8 September 1971) is a British and Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the son of the media Business magnate, tycoon Rupert Murdoch. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, chairman of N ...

and his replacement by 20th Television chairman

Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republic ...

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 The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, were intensified in October 2005, when, after its cancellation was announced, ''ACA'' broadcast an exclusive interview with

Natalee Holloway Natalee is a female given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other me ...

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.

References

External links