Extra (Australian TV program)
| Extra | |
|---|---|
| File:Extra Logo.jpg Extra opener and logo | |
| Genre | Public Affairs |
| Presented by | Jillian Whiting (2006 – present) Rick Burnett (1992 – 2005) |
| Country of origin | English |
| Original language |  Australia |
| No. of seasons | 17 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nine Network |
| Release | 9 February 1992 – present |
Extra (originally Brisbane Extra) is a nightly tabloid local current affairs programme, broadcast on Channel Nine Queensland, every week night and hosted by Jillian Whiting.
Hosts
- 1992-2005 Rick Burnett
- 2006-Present Jillian Whiting
Recently, host Jillian Whiting returned from maternity leave[1]. However, during her time away, various television, radio, and media celebrities from around Queensland and Australia had been asked to step into the hosting role for a week each. After this trial was finished, both Melissa Downes and Miranda Deakin, presented the remaining few weeks and over the summer break. The official word from the Nine Network was that Whiting would return to Extra and her former role as presenter of the Gold Coast's National Nine News, from the very first program in 2008, however this was delayed by two weeks.
Current reporters
History
On 9 February 1992, Brisbane Extra launched alongside other sister productions in capital cities around the country. A Current Affair reporter, Rick Burnett, made his debut as host, with ex-ABC personality Doug Murray and a team of young reporters. One year later, the sister programs were axed, but the Brisbane program proved so popular with its local audience, it continued, changing its name to simply Extra.
Since then, Extra has been an important part of south-east Queensland airing both informative and entertaining stories, covering community issues, consumer affairs and telling viewers about interesting people and things happening in their town. During its history, Extra’s turned plenty of ordinary people’s ideas and hobbies into successful businesses.
In 2000, Extra celebrated it's 2000th episode with a free family fun day at South Bank including a special performance by Hi-5. And celebrated it's 3000th episode in 2004 by giving viewers 3000 presents every day for a week.
In 2006, Extra continued on its winning ways, welcoming a new host, newsreader and journalist Jillian Whiting. Jillian continues to host Extra in 2007, with the program now going statewide on the WIN Television Network. And as Extra celebrates its 16th year, it marks a record run for a locally-produced Australian program.
Future
Due to the shows great success and high television ratings it had been widely speculated that the show would soon air nationally. However, viewers worry that the shows stories and interviews would not remain local to Queensland and therefore adapt a format similar to that of same network show A Current Affair.