''Planet America'' is an
Australian television news program on
ABC News. The program is co-hosted by John Barron and
Chas Licciardello, and 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: E ...
.
The program continued airing weekly after the 2012 election, covering the week's news in
American politics
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that Separation of powers, share powers. These are: the United States Congress, U.S. Congre ...
.
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 on Fridays at 8pm with a 45-minute time slot. 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
ABC iview and the "ABC News In-Depth"
YouTube 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.
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).
John Barron confirmed on
Twitter that the 2022 season of ''Planet America'' will begin on September 26, delayed by the
funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. It was due to begin sometime in August, for the 2022
US midterm elections
Midterm elections in the United States are the Elections in the United States, general elections that are held near the midpoint of a President of the United States, president's four-year term of office, on Election Day (United States), Elec ...
, 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.
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
English-language television shows