David Speers will depart Sky News to replace Barrie Cassidy as host of the ABC's political panel show Insiders in a blow to the Rupert Murdoch-owned cable network.
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Speers, Sky's political editor, is respected across the political spectrum in contrast to several of Sky's 'after dark' hosts who are perceived to lean heavily towards the conservative side of politics.
Speers' new home, Insiders, has been a ratings success for the ABC under Cassidy's stewardship with hundreds of thousands of viewers. It is competitive with commercial TV breakfast shows including Weekend Sunrise on Seven and Weekend Today on Nine, the owner of this masthead.
Sky, by contrast, has an average daytime audience a fraction of the size of Insiders with average numbers in the tens of thousands.
Speers is reported to be among Sky's highest paid hosts while his new employer, the ABC, is facing an $84 million budget cut that managing director David Anderson warned would produce staff cuts and disruptions to the national broadcaster's content.
The ABC's Michael Rowland, co-host of the national broadcaster's TV breakfast program, and Radio National host Patricia Karvelas had been rumoured as internal candidates to replace Cassidy, but both greeted reports of Speers' appointment with enthusiasm.
"David Speers will comfortably fill Barrie Cassidy's big shoes. A true class act! Welcome aboard, mate," Rowland said on Twitter.
Karvelas made similar remarks, saying she looked forward to reuniting with Speers on Insiders as did ABC breakfast radio host Fran Kelly.
Cassidy, 69, is stepping down on June 9.
"I am convinced after 18 years that it's time to give somebody else a go," Cassidy said when he announced his resignation in March. "I could list half a dozen within the organisation who could do it well ... but I won't!"
During the federal election campaign, Speers moderated debates between Tony Abbott and Zali Steggall and between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
News of his appointment was greeted with widespread approval among senior journalists outside the ABC as well.
Ten Network political editor Peter van Onselen said the decision to appoint Speers would be excellent for Insiders.
"Barrie is irreplaceable but David is as close as you get," van Onselen said on Twitter.
Chief political correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald David Crowe said "gobsmackingly good appointment" and the papers' senior investigative journalist Kate McClymont said Speers' departure was a "major, major blow to Sky News."
The ABC is undergoing a generational change among the hosts of some of its flagship programs with Tony Jones moving on from Q&A and ABC Melbourne Radio host Jon Faine retiring at the end of the year.
An ABC spokeswoman declined to comment and Speers did not respond to attempts to contact him.
- SMH/The Age
