''Planet America'' and its sister program ''Planet America's Weekend Edition'' (formally known as ''Planet America's Fireside Chat'') are

Australian television Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisb ...

news and current affairs programs on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. The program, which launched in February 2012 ahead of the

2012 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Bi ...

, is focused on

United States politics In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legi ...

, and is co-hosted by John Barron and

Chas Licciardello Charles John "Chas" Licciardello (born 10 May 1977) is an Australian comedian and member of satirical team The Chaser. He's currently the co-host, with John Barron, of '' Planet America'' on ABC TV and Co-Host of the P.E.P. "Planet Extra" Pod ...

. one episode each of ''Planet America'' and ''Planet America's Weekend Edition'' are aired on ABC TV, ABC News channel, and

ABC iview ABC iview is a video on demand and catch-up TV service run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Currently iview video content can only be viewed by users in Australia. As of 2016, ABC iview attracts around 50 million plays monthly and a ...

History

''Planet America'' premiered on 10 February 2012. The program was launched to cover American political news events ahead of the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

. The program continued airing weekly after the 2012 election, covering the week's news in

American politics In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic, federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches Separation of powers, share powers: United States Congress, C ...

. In 2017, the ''Planet Extra'' series was created, with episodes uploaded to Planet America's Facebook page. In 2018, Planet America's time slot was increased to 45 minutes. In 2020, the program was moved to the prime time slot of 9.30pm on Wednesdays on the primary ABC TV channel with a half-hour runtime. ''Planet America's Fireside Chat'', a spin-off show, premiered on 31 January 2020 on

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

on Fridays at 8pm with a 45-minute time slot. The spin-off was renamed as ''Planet America's Weekend Edition'' at the beginning of 2025. The ''Planet Extra Podcast'' started on 14 February 2020, hosted by Chas Licciardello and Dr. David Smith. In 2021, the main show was moved to ''Fireside Chat''’s timeslot, and extended to run for just under an hour. It started at 7:03pm (after ''ABC News'' ''Update'') and consisted of four sections: a general American news section, an interview with a guest, a report by John Barron, and the Fireside Chat. Barron's reports, as well as extended versions of multiple interviews, would generally be available on

and the "ABC News In-Depth"

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channel individually (i.e. separate from the main show), as well as being included in the full broadcast. Towards the end of the season, with no more guests to be interviewed, Barron was joined by Gavin Wood to present ''Countdown''-style rankings of the best and worst

Presidents of the United States The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive bra ...

. John Barron confirmed on

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that the 2022 season of ''Planet America'' would begin on 26 September, delayed by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. It was due to begin sometime in August, for the 2022 US midterm elections, but was later pushed back to September. In the meantime, the co-hosts have been working on other projects for the ABC, such as ''The Context with John Barron'': a news analysis show during (what would have been) ''Planet America''’s timeslot hosted by Barron, starting from June. There was also a ''Planet America Special'' that aired on July 22 after ''The Context'' for the Capitol Riot hearings. In November 2024, ''Planet America'' was confirmed to be returning in 2025 at the annual ABC Upfronts event. From 4 August 2025, ''Planet America'' will air on Monday nights, moving from Wednesday following the cancellation of Q+A.

Description

The program is co-hosted by John Barron, research associate at the ''United States Studies Centre'' at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and

(''

The Chaser The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. Th ...

''), one episode each of ''Planet America'' and ''Planet America's Fireside Chat'' are aired on ABC TV, ABC News channel, and

Similar programs

Other programs similar to ''Planet America'' have been created out of its popularity, such as ''China Tonight'' (from 2021; with Stan Grant and Yvonne Yong) and ''India Now'' (from 2022; with Marc Fennell).

Episodes

Planet America

Planet America's Fireside Chat

Planet Extra

Planet Extra Podcast

References

External links

* * * {{News & Current Affairs in Australia, state=collapsed Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming ABC News and Current Affairs Australian television news shows 2012 Australian television series debuts Australian English-language television shows