''A Current Affair'' is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

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 do newspapers or n ...

program that aired in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web 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 (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Co ...

, and based at Fox's

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

flagship station

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagsh ...

, starting as a local production in 1986. It was syndicated to Fox's other owned-and-operated stations 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 Maurice Richard Povich (born January 17, 1939) is an American retired television personality, best known for hosting the tabloid talk show '' Maury'' which aired from 1991 to 2022. Povich began his career as a radio reporter, initially at WWD ...

. 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 Penny Daniels is an American communications consultant and trainer and a former television news anchor who once hosted the TV show '' A Current Affair''. Early life and education Born as Elizabeth Penny Comm, Daniels is a native of Highland ...

became host for the 1994-95 season and for what ultimately became the show's final season,

Jon Scott Jonathan Arthur Scott (born November 7, 1958) is an American television news anchor who hosts '' Fox Report Weekend'' on Fox News. Also, Scott is the lead anchor for any breaking news each weekend. Jon Scott longtime co-anchored ''Happening Now ...

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 a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

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

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Comp ...

were units of the original iteration of

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...

. 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 Burt Kearns is an American author, television and film producer, writer and director, and journalist, known for his work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, '' Tabloid Baby''. His latest book, a biography ...

and

Wayne Darwen Wayne Darwen is an Australian journalist, television producer and filmmaker best known for his work in the tabloid television genre and as director and star of the film, '' High There'' (2015). Began career as a 17-year-old reporter for a newsp ...

, 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 it represents as in a wo ...

of the program is a distinctive

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

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: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

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 (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known a ...

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

Hard Copy ''Hard Copy'' is an American tabloid television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. ''Hard Copy'' was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence. The original hosts of ''Hard Copy' ...

'' and ''

Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is no ...

'' (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

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

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 The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

affiliates). This resurrection would be short- lived, however, as the departure from the Fox organization of Lachlan Murdoch 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 Republica ...

led to Fox's announcement that Ailes would replace the program with ''

Geraldo at Large ''Geraldo Rivera Reports'', also known as ''Geraldo at Large'', is an American television newsmagazine hosted by Fox News correspondent-at-large and former talk show host Geraldo Rivera. History Debuting in national syndication on October 31, 2 ...

'' 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, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

, 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. It is a variant of the name Natalie, though uncommon according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Notable people with the name include: * Natalee Caple (born 1970), Canadian author of novels and poetry * Natalee Holloway (b ...

murder suspect

Joran van der Sloot Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (; born 6 August 1987) is a Dutch convicted murderer who killed Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru, in 2010. He is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005. After Flores ...

, and

Rivera Rivera () is the capital of Rivera Department of Uruguay. The border with Brazil joins it with the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, which is only a street away from it, at the north end of Route 5. Together, they form an urban area of aro ...

revealed to the press that Ailes planned to use the timeslot as a beachhead for the establishment of a Fox News nightly newscast.Geraldo Rivera to Launch New News Program From Twentieth Television in November
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References

External links