Outsiders (Australian TV program)

Outsiders
Genre News, Political analysis, commentary
Presented by
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
Production
Running time 1 hour (inc. adverts)
Release
Original network Sky News Australia
Original release 4 December 2016 (2016-12-04) – present

Outsiders is an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on Sky News Australia.[1] The program is co-hosted by former Liberal MP Ross Cameron and editor of The Spectator magazine Rowan Dean and features long-form discussion of political issues between the conservative presenters.[2][3]

The program is broadcast from the Sky News Centre in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park. The series debuted a pilot episode on 4 December 2016[1] and will air weekly in 2017.[4]

Former Labor leader Mark Latham was the program's primary host until his employment was terminated by Sky News on 29 March 2017, following several controversial statements made on the program.[5][6] Subsequently, the program was put on hiatus, with the scheduled episode on 2 April 2017 being pulled from the schedule.[7] It returned on 9 April 2017, revealing the program will use rotating guest hosts in place of Latham.[8]

In April 2017, Latham launched a website called Mark Latham's Outsiders and began hosting a weekly Facebook Live program. Despite sharing the same name, it is unrelated to the Sky News program.[9]

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 have described themselves as "Trump's Aussie mates"[10] and will proudly boast "absolutely no balance whatsoever" and plan to "do the opposite of [Insiders host] Barrie Cassidy".[2] As the program airs at 10am AEDT, it begins airing as Insiders concludes.[1]

The program is 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 the first hosting role for Dean. The program was developed following the appearance of all three men on an episode of Paul Murray Live.[11]

Reception

The pilot episode on 4 December 2016 was watched by 22,159 viewers, a 79% increase in the timeslot average of Weekend Live ratings over the previous 4 weeks. Amongst homes with subscription television (STV), Insiders on the ABC was watched by 29,070 viewers, and including viewers without STV rated 220,000 viewers.[12]

Sky News presenter Peter van Onselen, whose program Sunday Agenda airs ahead of Outsiders, has been critical of the program following an Outsiders segment which named van Onselen's wife Ainslie as a member of the "diversity bunch" whom Latham claims push diversity but only help "rich and privileged women." ABC program Media Watch noted that Ainslie van Onselen had left her position 5 months earlier. The same report revealed Outsiders achieves an audience of 31,000 viewers each week.[13]

An episode on 5 March 2017 rated 37,000 viewers but had dropped to 24,000 viewers on 26 March following a series of controversial comments by Latham.[14]

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. ↑ Brook, Stephen (29 March 2017). "Sky News sacks presenter Mark Latham". The Australian. Retrieved 29 March 2017.(subscription required)
  6. ↑ Meade, Amanda (29 March 2017). "Mark Latham sacked by Sky News after controversial remarks". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Burrowes, Tim (1 April 2017). "Sky News axes Outsiders from schedule after sacking of Mark Latham". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Brook, Stephen (10 April 2017). "Independent Australia’s Martin Hirst to rile press gallery". The Australian. Retrieved 10 April 2017.(subscription required)
  9. ↑ "Mark Latham goes online with Outsiders Facebook page". News Corp Australia. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Butler, Josh (9 November 2016). "We Spent Election Day With Trump's Biggest Aussie Supporters". Huffington Post Australia. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Outsiders by name, outsiders in the ratings". Mumbrella. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "Sky News civil war". ABC. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  14. ↑ 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)
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