Outsiders (Australian TV program)

Last updated

Outsiders
Outsiders logo (Australia).png
Genre
Presented by
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
Production
Running time1–2 hours (incl. adverts)
Original release
Network Sky News Australia
Release4 December 2016 (2016-12-04) –
present

Outsiders is an Australian television news and commentary show broadcast on Sky News Australia. [1] The show is currently co-hosted by editor of The Spectator magazine Rowan Dean, The Friday Show host Rita Panahi, and The Daily Telegraph opinion editor James Morrow, and features long-form discussion of political issues between conservative contributors. [2] [3]

Contents

The show is broadcast from the Sky News Centre in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park. The series debuted in a pilot episode on 4 December 2016, [1] and began airing weekly in 2017, [4] before the format expanded to a two-hour Sunday morning edition and hourly primetime episodes in 2018. [5] From October to December 2018, the show aired late at night, four times a week. [6]

The show debuted with three co-hosts, two of whom were fired for separate controversial comments. Former Labor leader Mark Latham was the show's primary host until his employment was terminated by Sky News on 29 March 2017, following several controversial statements made on the show. [7] On 2 November 2018, former Liberal MP Ross Cameron became the second co-host to be sacked, after using offensive racial stereotypes to refer to Chinese people. [8]

Background

The format was designed as a response to the long-running ABC program Insiders , which many conservatives see as aimed towards the "inner-city leftist class". [2] The hosting trio described themselves as "[Donald] Trump's Aussie mates" [9] and proudly boasted "absolutely no balance whatsoever", intending to "do the opposite of [Insiders host] Barrie Cassidy". [2] In 2017, the program aired at 10 a.m. AEDT, beginning as Insiders concluded, but in 2018, the program added a second hour, beginning at the same time as Insiders and competing with it directly. [1]

The program was the second format co-hosted by both Cameron (following the now-defunct Keneally and Cameron ) and Latham (who continued co-hosting Jones + Co until his sacking), and is the first hosting role for Dean. It was developed following the appearance of all three men on an episode of Paul Murray Live . [10]

Reception

The pilot episode on 4 December 2016 was watched by 22,159 viewers, a 79 per cent increase in the timeslot average of Weekend Live ratings over the previous four weeks. Amongst homes with subscription television (STV), Insiders on the ABC was watched by 790,070 viewers, and including viewers without STV rated 220,000 viewers. [11]

An episode on 5 March 2017 had 37,000 viewers but that dropped to 24,000 viewers on 26 March, following a series of controversial comments by Latham. [12]

An episode on 27 August 2017 was the twentieth-most-watched program on subscription television, with viewership of 41,000. [13]

In the first half of 2018, Sky maintained that the weekend edition of Outsiders increased its audience by 24 per cent, the Monday edition by 84 per cent and the Thursday edition by 105 per cent in their respective timeslots "year-on-year". [14] [15]

Controversies

In early 2017, Sky News presenter Peter van Onselen, whose program Sunday Agenda airs ahead of Outsiders, was critical of the program following an Outsiders segment which named van Onselen's wife Ainslie as a member of the "diversity bunch" who Latham claims push diversity but only help "rich and privileged women". The ABC program Media Watch noted that Ainslie van Onselen had left her position five months earlier. The same report revealed Outsiders has an audience of only 31,000 viewers each week. [16]

Latham's employment was terminated by Sky News on 29 March 2017, following several controversial statements made on the program. [7] [17] Subsequently, the program was put on hiatus, with the scheduled episode on 2 April 2017 being pulled. [18] When it returned on 9 April 2017, it was revealed that the program would use rotating guest hosts in place of Latham, until the use of the third host was eventually dropped several week later. [19] In April 2017, Latham launched a website called Mark Latham's Outsiders and began hosting a weekly Facebook Live program affiliated with The Rebel Media. [20] Despite sharing the same name, it was unrelated to the Sky News program. [21]

On 1 July 2018, a producer of Outsiders was suspended after the program broadcast controversial comments by Senator David Leyonhjelm about the personal life of Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, and further displayed them in an on-screen strap. Sky News issued an apology on Twitter hours later, describing the comments as "appalling". [22] In response to a social media campaign targeting companies who advertise during Outsiders, Sky News replaced paid advertisements with station promotions in episodes airing the following week. [23]

In November 2018, Cameron was sacked from Sky News days after making allegedly racist comments on Outsiders, becoming the second original co-host to be fired. [24] The program briefly used a roster of guest co-hosts alongside Dean, including Liberal MP Craig Kelly, until permanent presenters were appointed in 2019. [25] Panahi and Morrow were appointed permanent co-hosts alongside Dean in 2019. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Latham</span> Australian politician (born 1961)

Mark William Latham is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from December 2003 to January 2005, leading the party to defeat at the 2004 federal election. He left the ALP in 2017 and joined Pauline Hanson's One Nation in 2018, gaining a seat for that party in the New South Wales Legislative Council at the 2019 New South Wales state election and winning re-election in 2023.

Ross Alexander Cameron is an Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to October 2004, representing the Division of Parramatta, New South Wales.

Sky News Australia is an Australian conservative news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs featuring a line-up of conservative commentators.

<i>Media Watch</i> (TV program) Australian TV series or program

Media Watch is an Australian media analysis and political opinion television program currently presented by Paul Barry for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The program focuses on critiquing the Australian media together with its interconnections, including with politics.

Today is an Australian breakfast television news and current affairs program, with an infotainment base, hosted by Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo and includes news and weather updates. It broadcast weekdays on the Nine Network. The show also has a weekend edition called Weekend Today.

<i>Saturday Disney</i> Australian childrens television program

Saturday Disney is a long-running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aired on Saturday mornings, consisting mainly of Disney television series dispersed between hosted content. The original presenters were Jeniene Mapp, James Sherry and Sofie Formica, and the final presenters were Nathan Morgan, Candice Dixon and Teigan Nash. Many hosts have gone on to achieve successful careers in Australian television.

Peter van Onselen is an Australian academic, author, and commentator and a political journalist.

<i>Q+A</i> (Australian talk show) Australian television series

Q+A, formerly Q&A and also referred to as Qanda, is an Australian television panel discussion program broadcast on ABC Television. The show, which has run continuously since 2008, as of 2023 broadcasts on Monday nights at 9:35 pm. Its format is similar to Question Time on the BBC and Questions and Answers on RTÉ.

The Project is an Australian news-current affairs and talk show television panel program, airing weeknights and Sunday across Australia on Network 10, produced by Roving Enterprises. The show is hosted by Waleed Aly, Sarah Harris, Georgie Tunny, Hamish Macdonald, Rove McManus, Sam Taunton and Michael Hing with rotating daily panellists usually appearing once a week.

<i>Weekend Edition</i> (Australian program)

Weekend Edition is an Australian news and current affairs television program on Sky News Live on Saturdays and Sundays. It is the weekend incarnation of First Edition.

<i>The Bolt Report</i> Australian TV series or program

The Bolt Report is an Australian political discussion program hosted by conservative commentator Andrew Bolt, who focuses on conservative political and social comment in the form of opinion commentary, panel discussion and interviews. The program highlights climate-change denial, immigration issues, Indigenous Australians, federal deficits and government borrowing, government corruption and free speech.

<i>Jones + Co</i> 2014 Australian TV series or program

Jones & Co was a weekly Australian television news and commentary program, broadcast on Sky News Australia. The program airs each Tuesday night at 8pm AEST. Its current co-hosts are Alan Jones and Peta Credlin, while previous co-hosts alongside Jones include Graham Richardson and Mark Latham.

<i>The Contrarians</i> Australian TV series or program

The Contrarians is an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on Sky News Australia throughout the week.

<i>The Friday Show</i> Television series

The Friday Show is an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on Sky News Australia, hosted by Rita Panahi. The show was a replacement of axed format Keneally and Cameron, and as such debuted without promotion, surprising regular viewers of the former program.

<i>PVO NewsDay</i> 2015 Australian TV series or program

PVO NewsDay was an Australian television news and commentary program which was broadcast 4 times weekly on Sky News Australia. The program is hosted by Peter van Onselen, whose initials in part represent the program's title. The program covers a range of news, politics, sport, weather, finance and entertainment, as well as commentary from van Onselen and other contributors. Occasionally, home viewers are invited on-air to provide opinions as part of a panel discussion.

<i>To the Point</i> (TV program) 2015 Australian TV series or program

To the Point was an Australian television political commentary program broadcast 4 times weekly on Sky News Australia. The program was originally hosted by Kristina Keneally and Peter van Onselen. Van Onselen left the program in October 2017, replaced by Laura Jayes. The program premiered on 1 June 2015 and covers a range of political news as well as commentary and analysis from the hosts, plus guest contributors.

<i>Speers Tonight</i> Australian television series

Speers Tonight is an Australian television program on Sky News Australia. The program sees host David Speers interview a prominent guest, followed by a discussion of political issues from the week with journalists Paul Kelly and Peter Hartcher. The weekly program replaced similar format The Nation with David Speers on Thursday nights and was one of two programs hosted by Speers, the other being the four-times weekly PM Agenda.

<i>Richo</i> (TV program) 2011 Australian TV series or program

Richo was a weekly Australian television news and commentary program, formerly broadcast on Sky News Live. Hosted by Graham Richardson, it premiered on 23 February 2011, and aired each Wednesday night at 8pm AEST.

<i>Credlin Keneally</i> Australian TV series or program

Credlin Keneally was an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on Sky News Australia. The program was co-hosted by Peta Credlin and Kristina Keneally and features long-form discussion of political issues between the presenters.

Rowan Dean is an Australian advertising executive and conservative commentator. After a career as an advertising industry copywriter, Dean was a panellist on early seasons of Gruen, and became a commentator with multiple newspapers and a co-host of conservative Sky News Australia program Outsiders. He is currently the editor of Spectator Australia in addition to being a frequent contributor. He is a columnist at the Australian Financial Review, has written for The Age, and has appeared on the ABC's panel talk show Q&A.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Knox, David (21 November 2016). "Airdate: Outsiders". TV Tonight . Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Trump's Aussie mates: Latham, Dean and Cameron launch new show". The Australian. News Corp Australia. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.(subscription required)
  3. ↑ Purcell, Charles (24 November 2016). "New This Week (Nov 28): The Exorcist, DC Crossover, Shark Week, FFA Final, Wallabies and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Knox, David (19 December 2016). "SKY News 2017: highlights". TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Sky News changes: New set, new schedule, expanded lineup". Mediaweek. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "Daily Telegraph political editor Sharri Markson to host Sky News program". The Daily Telegraph. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  7. 1 2 Brook, Stephen (29 March 2017). "Sky News sacks presenter Mark Latham". The Australian. Retrieved 29 March 2017.(subscription required)
  8. ↑ Loomes, Phoebe (2 November 2018). "Sky News commentator sacked over on-air racism". news.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Butler, Josh (9 November 2016). "We Spent Election Day With Trump's Biggest Aussie Supporters". Huffington Post Australia. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Faruqi, Osman (21 November 2016). "Mark Latham And A Bunch Of His Trump-Loving Mates Have Launched A New TV Show". Junkee. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Outsiders by name, outsiders in the ratings". Mumbrella. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  12. ↑ Savva, Niki (6 April 2017). "Conservative: a different meaning". The Australian. Retrieved 11 April 2017. Ratings peaked on March 5 with 37,000 viewers. On March 26...it dropped to 24,000 viewers.(subscription required)
  13. ↑ Knox, David (28 August 2017). "Sunday 27 August 2017". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Sky News on a roll as presenters bring in record number of viewers" . The Australian. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Sky News delivers record-breaking audiences". Sky News. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "Sky News civil war". ABC. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  17. ↑ Meade, Amanda (29 March 2017). "Mark Latham sacked by Sky News after controversial remarks". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  18. ↑ Burrowes, Tim (1 April 2017). "Sky News axes Outsiders from schedule after sacking of Mark Latham". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  19. ↑ Brook, Stephen (10 April 2017). "Independent Australia's Martin Hirst to rile press gallery". The Australian. Retrieved 10 April 2017.(subscription required)
  20. ↑ Since renamed Rebel News
  21. ↑ "Mark Latham goes online with Outsiders Facebook page". News Corp Australia. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Sky News apologises for airing 'appalling' Leyonhjelm comments". The New Daily. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  23. ↑ Knox, David (13 July 2018). "Outsiders running without ads on SKY News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  24. ↑ Remeikis, Amy (2 November 2018). "Ross Cameron sacked from Sky News after racist comments about Chinese people". The Guardian Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  25. ↑ Davies, Anne (7 November 2018). "Liberal MP Craig Kelly to replace Ross Cameron as co-host of Sky News' Outsiders". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  26. ↑ O'Connell, Brigid (20 January 2019). "Rita Panahi to co-host Outsiders in revamp of show". The Herald-Sun.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.