The 7.30 Report

The 7.30 Report
The 7.30 Report logo
Genre	News, Current Affairs
Presented by	Leigh Sales Chris Uhlmann Kerry O'Brien (1995-2010)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	25
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ben Hawke
Producer(s)	Clay Hichens, Phil Kwok
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	ABC1 ABC News 24
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Original release	January 1986 – 4 March 2011
Chronology
Preceded by	Nationwide This Day Tonight
Followed by	7.30
External links
Website

The 7.30 Report was an Australian nightly television current affairs program, that was shown on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at 7.30pm, Mondays–Thursdays. Its sister program, Stateline was shown at the same time on Friday nights.

In 2011, it was replaced by 7.30, a revamped current affairs program presented by Leigh Sales and Chris Uhlmann. Leigh Sales is currently the main presenter.

History

The 7.30 Report began in January 1986, screening Tuesday to Friday evenings. The program extended to Mondays the following year.

Until the end of 1994 the program had separate editions for each state, presented by Alan Carpenter, Mary Delahunty, Quentin Dempster, Trisha Goddard, Sarah Henderson, Genevieve Hussey, John Jost, Leigh McClusky, Kelly Nestor, and Andrew Olle. Kerry O'Brien took over as the presenter of the national program in 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 November 2014, ABC announced that local editions of 7.30 would be axed due to funding cuts.

2011 changes

Main article: 7.30

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 is presented by Leigh Sales from Sydney. Chris Uhlmann is 7.30's political editor and Canberra presenter.

The ABC also announced that the state-based current affairs program Stateline would be folded into the 7.30 program. The change saw 7.30 extended to five nights a week, although Friday editions were to continue 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(s), 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.[1]

Until 2012, 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 have won a number of awards.

See also

• List of Australian television series
• List of Australian Broadcasting Corporation programs

External links

• Official site
• The 7.30 Report at the National Film and Sound Archive