| Sunday | |
|---|---|
 Sunday Logo |
|
| Format | News/Current affairs |
| Starring | Ray Martin Ellen Fanning Michael Usher Stephanie Brantz Laurie Oakes |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Original run | 1981 – present |
Sunday is a public affairs program on Australian television. It is broadcast nationally on the Nine Network every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM, with coverage including local and overseas news, politics, and in-depth stories on issues affecting Australia and the world, plus film reviews, arts features and music. It is currently hosted by Ellen Fanning and Ray Martin, with Michael Usher (news), Stephanie Brantz (sport) and Laurie Oakes (political editor).
Contents |
History
On 22 October, 1981, the Nine Network announced its plan to launch a Sunday morning news and current affairs program. In those days, Sunday morning television was dominated by religious programming and most networks had long regarded them part of the nation's social fabric. The plan was radical and risky — critics from other networks, newspapers and the public wondered if the show would spell disaster when combined with the non-prime-time, non-ratings driven status of Sunday mornings. Two weeks later on 15 November, the first episode of Sunday aired — when other current affairs programs were shutting down for summer. The program was hosted by a young reporter called Jim Waley, who would go on to present Sunday. In late 2002, Waley became presenter of Sydney's 6pm National Nine News. Long-time television journalist and interviewer Jana Wendt was appointed as the new host. Following the decision to change Sunday's successful magazine format it was announced on 1 September 2006 that Wendt would leave the Nine Network and Ross Greenwood and Ellen Fanning would become joint hosts of the show. Following the appointment of John Westacott as the Nine Network`s New Head of News and Current Affairs, it was announced that from 16th September 2007 that Greenwood would be replaced by Ray Martin joining Ellen Fanning as joint hosts of the show. Sunday is considered to be a programme made up predominately of Hard News stories particularly when compared to its main rival, Weekend Sunrise which airs around the same time on the Seven Network. Since Sunday began in 1981, it has maintained a high level of respect from Academics, Governments and Business leaders alike for its hard hitting, investigative and factual journalistic style.
Awards
In 2002, Sunday won a Gold Medal in the New York Festivals television awards for its ongoing coverage of events in East Timor, and a Silver Medal for its investigation of sexual abuse cover-up claims involving the Governor-General, Peter Hollingworth. Sunday also won the Logie Award for "Most Outstanding Public Affairs Program on Australian Television" at the Logie Awards of 2003.
Firsts
Under progressive Executive Producer Stephen Rice, "Sunday" achieved number of firsts including being the first Australian 'newscaff' program to launch its own website in 1997 and promote on-air URLs to viewers. Working with the online producer Kathryn Franco, anchor Jim Waley introduced many viewers to the web for the first time when he said "...And you can read a transcript of Laurie Oakes' Interview shortly after the show at www..." For the first year, the program produced encoded videos for the website of selected segments. Sister program "Business Sunday" and "Small Business Show" followed.
Alumni
A significant number of Australian journalists, media professionals, researchers and producers have been involved in "Sunday" since 1981. Among this alumni are reporter/presenters: Seven's Adrian Brown, former NSW premier Bob Carr, Ross Coulthart, actor Max Cullen, Sky News' Helen Dalley, Graham Davis, the late Robert Haupt, Laurie Oakes, CNN's Hugh Riminton, Paul Ransley, film reviewer/writer Peter Thompson and Jim Waley. Producers, researchers and media professionals include: Peter Hiscock, Tom Krause, Nick Farrow, Kathryn Franco, Seven's news chief Peter Meakin, Paul Steindl, arts specialist Catherine Hunter, political/media adviser Sarah Turner and Stephen Rice.
