Hungry Beast
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television broadcasting |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Andrew Denton (producer) |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Andrew Denton (executive producer), Kirsten Drysdale, Nicholas Hayden, Dan Ilic, Monique Schafter (presenters) |
| Products | Television program blending comedy and current affairs |
| Website | www |
Hungry Beast, initially known as Project NEXT, was an Australian television program blending comedy with current affairs, aired on ABC Television.
Format
This 30-minute series merged satire and news analysis. Presenters were encouraged with the directive "Tell me something I don't know." The show's structure developed naturally alongside its hosts, prompting executive producer Andrew Denton to describe it as "unclassifiable," drawing parallels to the unpredictable nature of the Internet.
Starting with a cast of 19 presenters, the second season narrowed the team down to four main hosts: Kirsten Drysdale, Nicholas Hayden, Dan Ilic, and Monique Schafter, while other contributors continued their roles as reporters on screen. In the same season, journalists Ali Russell and Kirk Docker earned a Walkley Award nomination in the Indigenous Affairs category for their coverage of the "Gang of 49." Additionally, the show received nominations for an ATOM Award in Best Multimedia and an AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment.
Pre-broadcast marketing
Prior to its premiere, Hungry Beast executed a marketing campaign involving a fabricated news release from a non-existent entity called the Levitt Institute. This fake report, titled "Deception Detection Across Australian Populations," purported to analyze credulity levels among Australians by state. The campaign included a dedicated website and manipulated Wikipedia pages. Several media organizations, including the AAP, reported on this story as genuine. Following the revelation of the hoax, the AAP criticized it as an exploitation of both media outlets and the public.
History
Broadcast on Wednesday evenings on ABC1 with repeats on Thursday via ABC2, Hungry Beast was produced by Andrew Denton's company, Zapruder's Other Films. Auditions occurred in January 2009, and the presenter lineup was announced in September that year.
The third and final season launched on ABC1 at 9:30 pm on 23 March 2011, featuring a more focused production team. Spanning 12 weeks, each episode centered around themes such as Secrets, Waste, Captivity, Faking It, Download, Perfection, and Wealth. Recurring segments included vox populi interviews, "Follow The Money," and "The Beast File."
On 29 November 2011, executive producer Andrew Denton officially announced that the series would not continue.