''The Contrarians'' is an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian 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 fe ...

throughout the week. The series focuses on mainly political topics, with the program's host being joined by a panel of usually three commentators (sometimes four), who generally have opposing political views, and discuss the issues of the week. The program initially used the phrase "this is the only show on Sky or anywhere else where we truly involve you the viewer by reading out your tweets and emails." The programs aired at 4pm on Friday afternoons, in the timeslot ''

PM Agenda ''Agenda'' is the name given to a series of Australian television news and commentary programs, broadcast on Sky News Australia throughout the week. The ''Agenda'' series of bulletins serve as the channel's flagship program. The series focuses ...

'' holds on other weekdays, and was broadcast from the Sky News centre in the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Macquarie Park Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government ...

. Revivals of ''The Contrarians'' had been announced, having previously ended in 2014, with original host

Peter van Onselen Peter van Onselen is an Australian academic, author, commentator, and political journalist. He is professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia, and he is political editor of '' Daily Mail Australia'', having s ...

but never eventuated.

Format history

The program was hosted by

until 2014 when he was given his own primetime program '' PVO Newshour''. From the start of 2014, the program had rotating guest hosts each week from the existing Sky News family of contributors or presenters, including Paul Murray, Stan Grant,

Helen Dalley Helen Dalley (born 1957) is an Australian journalist, who formerly worked for Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) media stable. Dalley is best known for her work on the Nine Network television programs ''Sunday'', ''Today' ...

Ross Cameron Ross Alexander Cameron (born 14 May 1965) is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1996 until 2004, representing the division of Parramatta. Between ...

and even van Onselen. In July 2014, the format of the program was changed slightly when

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who served as the first female Premier of New South Wales from 2009 to 2011 and was later a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 u ...

and Ross Cameron were made regular co-hosts of the program, and they would be joined by just two panellists, plus occasional interviews with journalists or commentators outside the studio. On 19 September 2014, ''The Contrarians'' was replaced by a new series ''

Keneally and Cameron ''Keneally and Cameron'' was an Australian television news and commentary program broadcast weekly on Sky News Australia from 2014 to 2015, co-hosted by former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and former Federal Liberal Minister Ross Cameron. The ...

'', which is of a similar format. However, the format was absorbed into original host Peter van Onselen's new program ''PVO Newshour'', airing as a "week in review" segment during the back half of the Thursday episode, until that program ended.

Revival

On 22 June 2016, former host van Onselen revealed the format would be returning following the 2016 federal election to Sundays. However, this never eventuated, and instead van Onselen began hosting a new format '' Sunday Edition''. In October 2017, it was confirmed ''The Contrarians'' would be revived in 2018. However, this revival never eventuated either, with van Onselen leaving Sky at the end of 2017.

References

External links

Sky News Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contrarians Sky News Australia Australian non-fiction television series 2009 Australian television series debuts 2014 Australian television series endings

Format history

Revival

See also

References

External links