Journalist Sharri Markson has suffered a flat television debut, according to Monday evening's ratings.
Markson, who is The Daily Telegraph's political editor and was the first to print a story about Barnaby Joyce's affair, hosted her first show on Sky News this week. Her one hour program Sharri goes to air on Monday evenings from 8pm.
But the show failed to gain traction in Melbourne where it where it averaged just 1000 viewers, according to the National Subscription TV Database.
In comparison, around 15,000 people from Sydney tuned in to the debut program. Adelaide had double the amount of viewers than Melbourne, while Brisbane and Perth had 4000 and 5000 people watching respectively.
Last week, around 15,000 people in Sydney tuned in to watch Outsiders at 8pm. In Melbourne, the audience hovered around the 3000 mark.
The figures suggest Markson has kept Sky's Monday evening audience relatively steady. But there is a risk it could lose market share if what is happening in Melbourne occurs in other cities. While Outsiders did dip as low as 2000 Melbourne viewers twice in September, it has also reached as many as 7000 people in the Victorian capital.
Sky News host Sharri Markson.Credit:Sky News
Markson nabbed her own show as part of a recent reshuffle that saw Ross Cameron and Rowan Dean's controversial program pushed back into the late-night timeslot at the expense of Janine Perrett's Heads Up.
Over the weekend, the son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, Alex, revealed that Markson had asked him to come onto her program to discuss the Wentworth byelection and the Government's climate change policies.
However, he replied with: "I'd rather eat glass. I am all too familiar with your work."
Turnbull then criticised Markson for planning to interview Kerryn Phelps, who is running in his father's old seat as an independent.
"It will be sweet to see you on-air with your godmother," he said.
In August, Victoria's transport minister banished Sky News from some of Melbourne's busiest train stations after the broadcaster aired an uncritical interview with convicted racist Blair Cottrell.
"Hatred and racism have no place on our screens or in our community," Labor MP Jacinta Allan said at the time.
However, Ms Allan was later forced to defend claims she was censoring the media and, in particular, punishing journalists for the actions of late-night and weekend commentators.
Sky News has been contacted for comment.
Earlier this month, Sky News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos praised Markson's newsbreaking abilities.
"Over the years we have built-up Australia most talented and compelling on-air team," he said. "I'm really pleased that Sharri Markson, Stephen Conroy and Michael Kroger have joined the extraordinary line-up of hosts."
A spokeswoman for television ratings company OzTam said it's important to evaluate niche programs over a period of time instead of judging them on the basis of a single episode.
"TV audience estimates are subject to sampling variability," she said.
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