Outsiders (Australian TV program)

Outsiders
Genre News, Political analysis, commentary
Presented by
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
Production
Running time 1-2 hour(s) (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 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 began airing weekly in 2017[4] before the format expanded to a 2 hour Sunday morning edition and hourly primetime episodes in 2018.[5] From October 2018, the program became a four-times-weekly late night program.[6]

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.[7][8] Subsequently, the program was put on hiatus, with the scheduled episode on 2 April 2017 being pulled from the schedule.[9] It returned on 9 April 2017, revealing the program will use rotating guest hosts in place of Latham, until the use of the third host was eventually dropped several week later.[10] 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. Despite sharing the same name, it is unrelated to the Sky News program.[11]

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"[12] and will proudly boast "absolutely no balance whatsoever" and plan to "do the opposite of [Insiders host] Barrie Cassidy".[2] In 2017, the program aired at 10am AEDT, beginning airing as Insiders concluded, however in 2018 the program added a second hour, beginning at the same time as Insiders and competing directly.[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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

An episode on 27 August 2017 was the twentieth most watched program on subscription television with viewership of 41,000 viewers.[16]

In the first half of 2018, the weekend edition of Outsiders grew its audience by 24%, the Monday edition by 84% and the Thursday edition by 105% in their respective timeslots year-on-year.[17][18]

Controversies

In early 2017, 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.[19]

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."[20] 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.[21]

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. ↑ Brook, Stephen (29 March 2017). "Sky News sacks presenter Mark Latham". The Australian. Retrieved 29 March 2017. (subscription required)
  8. ↑ Meade, Amanda (29 March 2017). "Mark Latham sacked by Sky News after controversial remarks". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Burrowes, Tim (1 April 2017). "Sky News axes Outsiders from schedule after sacking of Mark Latham". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Brook, Stephen (10 April 2017). "Independent Australia's Martin Hirst to rile press gallery". The Australian. Retrieved 10 April 2017. (subscription required)
  11. ↑ "Mark Latham goes online with Outsiders Facebook page". News Corp Australia. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Butler, Josh (9 November 2016). "We Spent Election Day With Trump's Biggest Aussie Supporters". Huffington Post Australia. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Outsiders by name, outsiders in the ratings". Mumbrella. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  15. ↑ 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)
  16. ↑ Knox, David (28 August 2017). "Sunday 27 August 2017". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "Sky News on a roll as presenters bring in record number of viewers". The Australian. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Sky News delivers record-breaking audiences". Sky News. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Sky News civil war". ABC. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  20. ↑ "Sky News apologises for airing 'appalling' Leyonhjelm comments". The New Daily. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  21. ↑ Knox, David (13 July 2018). "Outsiders running without ads on SKY News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
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