在这部Hungry Beast片中,The show was a half-hour program and is structured as a hybrid between a current affairs program and a satire/comedy show. The presenters were initially given a single editorial instruction: "Tell me something I don't know". Rather than having a strict format, the show was started without a clear format in mind, with the final shape evolving alongside the presentation team that had been assembled. As a result, prior to the show's debut executive producer Andrew Denton described it as "unclassifiable" due to the chaotic nature of the work, likening the show's format to the Internet.
Originally 19 presenters were used, but the second season saw the hosts pared down to just four, Kirsten Drysdale, Nicholas Hayden, Dan Ilic and Monique Schafter, although some of the other presenters continue to report onscreen. During the second season of Hungry Beast reporters Ali Russell and Kirk Docker were nominated for a Walkley Award for Coverage of Indigenous Affairs for their story on the "Gang of 49". Hungry Beast also was nominated for an ATOM Award in the Best Multimedia category, and an AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment.
The media is a hungry beast - it devours everything and is never satisfied. Now, 19 newcomers to television - recruited after a nationwide call for young talent - are being given the opportunity by the ABC to feed the beast. Each week, they produced a half-hour of topical TV, as well as daily web content, bringing viewers news from outside the loop. This means they were being asked to find stories that aren't part of the regular news cycle - or to cover stories that are, from a fresh angle. They have been given one editorial instruction: "tell us something we don't know". Beyond that they are being encouraged to use every skill they have - humour, curiosity, passion, and good old-fashioned snooping around - to bring us the world as they see it, re-mixed.
