The Contrarians
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | News broadcasting |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Peter van Onselen, Paul Murray, Stan Grant, Helen Dalley, Ross Cameron, Kristina Keneally |
| Products | Political news and commentary show |
| Parent | Sky News Australia |
The Contrarians was a weekly political news and commentary show aired on Sky News Australia. The program featured a panel of three to four commentators presenting diverse and often conflicting perspectives on current political topics. Audience interaction was encouraged through the inclusion of tweets and emails during discussions.
Broadcast from the Sky News studio in Macquarie Park, Sydney, the show occupied the Friday 4 pm slot, which was otherwise filled by PM Agenda on weekdays. Despite announcements regarding potential revivals following its conclusion in 2014, with original host Peter van Onselen involved, these plans never came to fruition.
Format history
Up until 2014, Peter van Onselen served as the primary host before moving on to launch the primetime program PVO Newshour. Subsequently, the hosting duties were shared among various Sky News contributors including Paul Murray, Stan Grant, Helen Dalley, and Ross Cameron.
In July 2014, the show adopted a new structure featuring regular co-hosts Kristina Keneally and Ross Cameron, accompanied by two panellists and occasional guest interviews. On 19 September 2014, The Contrarians was succeeded by Keneally and Cameron, a program with a comparable format. Later, aspects of the original show were incorporated into van Onselen's PVO Newshour as a weekly segment reviewing political events until that program ended.
Revival
On 22 June 2016, van Onselen announced that the format would be revived on Sundays following the 2016 federal election. This revival did not occur; instead, van Onselen introduced a new show titled Sunday Edition. In October 2017, confirmation was given for a planned return of The Contrarians in 2018; however, this revival failed to materialize after van Onselen departed from Sky News at the end of that year.