Sunday aired its finale on August 3 2008. During its time on air, the show was widely regarded as the most respected public affairs program on Australian commercial television.
Broadcast nationally every Sunday morning at 7.30am, its unique two-hour format offered viewers a mix that included local and overseas news, politics, in-depth stories on issues affecting Australia and the world, plus film reviews, arts features and music.
On October 22, 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 November 15, the first episode of Sunday aired — when other current affairs programs were shutting down for summer. Sundays would never be the same again. The program was hosted by a young reporter called Jim Waley, who would go on to present Sunday for the next two decades. Early stories included "Rich Country, Poor Country" about the uneven spread of wealth between the First and Third Worlds, and a sad, compassionate, ground-breaking report on anorexia nervosa. The first prime minister to be interviewed on the program was Malcolm Fraser.
Sunday was soon hailed a success. The critics and the public had decided that Sunday's quality magazine style and intelligent stories were a winner.
This success was in part due to the dedication and professionalism of its early staff members. Many of Sunday's former staff now read like a who's who of Australia's best journalists. Alan Hogan, a former Four Corners reporter (now 60 Minutes producer) was the program's founding executive producer. The late Andrew Olle spent three years as a reporter from the program's start; journalist Peter Luck was executive producer between 1983 and 1984.
The late author and journalist Robert Haupt was a reporter and political interviewer between 1982 and 1985; and the former Nine Network head of news and current affairs, Peter Meakin, was also an executive producer.
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Two weeks later on November 15, the first episode of Sunday aired — when other current affairs programs were shutting down for summer. Sundays would never be the same again. The program was hosted by a young reporter called Jim Waley, who would go on to present Sunday for the next two decades. Early stories included "Rich Country, Poor Country" about the uneven spread of wealth between the First and Third Worlds, and a sad, compassionate, ground-breaking report on anorexia nervosa. The first prime minister to be interviewed on the program was Malcolm Fraser.
