Outsiders (Australian TV program)
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | News and political commentary |
| Founded | December 4, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Rowan Dean, Rita Panahi, James Morrow |
| Products | Television news and political commentary programs |
Outsiders is an Australian television program focused on news and political commentary, broadcast on Sky News Australia. The show is presently co-hosted by The Spectator editor Rowan Dean, The Friday Show presenter Rita Panahi, and opinion editor James Morrow from The Daily Telegraph. It features thorough debates on political topics with conservative panelists.
Produced at the Sky News Centre located in Sydney's Macquarie Park, the series debuted with a pilot episode on 4 December 2016 before transitioning to weekly broadcasts in 2017. In 2018, the program expanded its format to include a two-hour Sunday morning segment alongside hourly primetime editions. Between October and December 2018, it was also scheduled for late-night broadcasts four times per week.
Originally launched with three co-hosts, the show encountered controversies that led to the removal of two hosts. Former Labor leader Mark Latham served as the main host until Sky News terminated his role on 29 March 2017 following several provocative statements. Later, on 2 November 2018, former Liberal MP Ross Cameron was dismissed after making offensive racial remarks during a live broadcast.
Background
The concept for the show was developed as a counterpoint to the long-established ABC program Insiders, which many conservatives perceive as representing the "inner-city leftist class". The hosting team identified themselves as "[Donald] Trump's Aussie mates" and openly admitted to providing "absolutely no balance whatsoever", deliberately positioning themselves in opposition to Insiders host Barrie Cassidy. In 2017, the show aired at 10 a.m. AEDT, immediately following Insiders. By 2018, it expanded to a second hour, directly competing with Insiders by airing concurrently.
This program marked the second time both Cameron (previously co-hosting the now-defunct Keneally and Cameron) and Latham (former co-host of Jones + Co until his dismissal) hosted a show together, while it was Dean's inaugural hosting role. The series was conceptualized after all three appeared together on an episode of Paul Murray Live.
Reception
The pilot episode on 4 December 2016 attracted an audience of 22,159 viewers, representing a 79% increase compared to the average viewership over the preceding four weeks for the timeslot previously held by Weekend Live. For subscription television (STV) households, ABC's Insiders drew in 790,070 viewers, while total viewership including non-STV homes reached 220,000.
An episode aired on 5 March 2017 peaked at 37,000 viewers but saw a decline to 24,000 by 26 March, coinciding with controversial comments made by Latham.
On 27 August 2017, the program ranked twentieth among subscription television shows with an audience of 41,000.
In early 2018, Sky News announced year-on-year increases in viewership across different editions: weekend viewership rose by 24%, Monday broadcasts increased by 84%, and Thursday episodes grew by 105% within their respective time slots.
Controversies
At the beginning of 2017, Sky News host Peter van Onselen expressed criticism towards Outsiders following a segment that identified his wife, Ainslie, as part of the so-called "diversity bunch"—a group which host Mark Latham asserted primarily benefits "wealthy and privileged women." The ABC program Media Watch highlighted that Ainslie van Onselen had departed from her position five months prior and disclosed that Outsiders attracted a modest weekly viewership of only 31,000.
On 29 March 2017, Sky News terminated Latham's contract after a series of contentious remarks made during the show. Subsequently, the program was placed on hiatus, with the episode scheduled for 2 April being withdrawn. Upon its return on 9 April, a rotation of guest hosts filled in for Latham until the third guest host was removed a few weeks later. In April 2017, Latham initiated an independent website and a weekly Facebook Live broadcast named Mark Latham's Outsiders, which was associated with The Rebel Media.
A producer faced suspension on 1 July 2018 after Outsiders broadcasted provocative statements by Senator David Leyonhjelm regarding Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, including captions displayed on-screen. Sky News issued an apology, describing the comments as "appalling." Following a social media-driven campaign pressuring advertisers, the network replaced commercial advertisements with promotional content for the channel in subsequent airings.
In November 2018, co-host Ross Cameron was dismissed after allegedly making racist remarks during the program, marking him as the second original co-host to be removed. The show temporarily featured guest co-hosts alongside Rowan Dean, such as Liberal MP Craig Kelly, before appointing permanent hosts in 2019. That year, Rita Panahi and Janine Morrow joined Dean as official co-hosts.