Extra (Australian TV program)
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television broadcasting |
| Founded | 10 February 1992 |
| Headquarters | Brisbane , Australia |
| Products | Current affairs television show |
Extra—initially known as Brisbane Extra—was a nightly tabloid-style local current affairs show aired on Nine Network Queensland. The program’s last presenter was Heather Foord. Additionally, a weekend version titled Weekend Extra was broadcast on Saturday afternoons, hosted by Melissa Downes.
Hosts
- Rick Burnett (1992–2006)
- Jillian Whiting (2006–2008)
- Heather Foord (2009)
During 2007, while Jillian Whiting was on maternity leave, the show featured a rotation of various media personalities from Queensland and across Australia, each hosting for one-week periods. As her leave neared its end, presenters Melissa Downes and Miranda Deakin stepped in to cover the remaining weeks, including the Summer non-ratings season. Although the Nine Network announced Whiting’s return to Extra and as the anchor for Gold Coast’s National Nine News in 2008, her reappearance was postponed by two weeks.
Reporters
- Doug Murray
- Margueritte Rossi
- Nicole Madigan
- Rory O'Connor
- Jasmin Geisel (now Forsyth)
- Belinda Burrows
- Lisa Honeywill
- Natalie Gruzlewski
- Sylvia Jeffreys
- Dana Sanders
- Ben McCormack
- Shane Doherty
History
The program debuted on 10 February 1992 as Brisbane Extra, launching alongside similar shows in other capital cities. Hosted by A Current Affair reporter Rick Burnett, alongside former ABC veteran Doug Murray and a young reporting team, it quickly established strong local appeal. While sister productions in other cities were cancelled after a year, the Brisbane edition persisted under the name Extra.
In 2000, Extra celebrated its 2000th episode with a family event at South Bank, featuring a live performance by Hi-5. The milestone of the 3000th episode in 2004 was marked by distributing daily gifts to viewers over the course of a week.
Rick Burnett handed over hosting duties to journalist Jillian Whiting in 2006. The program briefly expanded to regional Queensland through WIN Television in 2007 but was discontinued there after six months. Jillian remained host until 2008 before transitioning to the Seven Network. In 2009, Heather Foord took over presenting duties after resigning as newsreader on Nine News.
Cancellation
After an eighteen-year run with solid ratings, Extra was cancelled by the Nine Network on 17 June 2009 to introduce a new one-hour current affairs show called This Afternoon, hosted by Andrew Daddo, Katrina Blowers, and Mark Ferguson. This move aimed to nationalise lead-in programming for underperforming news bulletins. The 5:30pm timeslot formerly occupied by Extra was filled by the game show Millionaire Hot Seat.
Following the cancellation, Heather Foord returned to Nine News as weekend news presenter. The final episode aired on 26 June featured Foord expressing gratitude to the audience amid opposition to the show's termination. It concluded with a retrospective montage celebrating its eighteen-year history.
The official website for Extra was taken down one week after the final broadcast. The brand experienced a revival when it was used for a television channel launched on 26 March 2012 on LCN 94 (now LCN 97).
See also
- List of Australian television programs
- List of Nine Network broadcasts
- List of the longest-running television series in Australia