While The Bolt Report may not return in its current format, columnist and TV host Andrew Bolt yesterday brushed away rumours the show was being axed saying if anything he’d be doing more television this year, not less. His declining to tell his readers what exactly was going on, he said, was because negotiations were ongoing. A Crikey tipster got in touch yesterday to give us an idea of just those negotiations are about. “The talks are around moving the show to a different network with more episodes a week,” the tipster said. Going to Sky News, as is speculated, would slash Bolt’s audience, but maybe that’s worth it if he’s on every day.
Of course, there’s another interesting factor to any move by Bolt to Sky. While Bolt commands large audiences and larger name recognition, many of his opinions have been brushed aside, including within News Corp (most notably by former Oz editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell) as not appealing to the wealthy, educated demographic targeted by outlets like The Australian. Sky News targets a similar demographic of insiders and bigwigs. How comfortably will Bolt fit in?
Well, maybe we shouldn’t dismiss Bolt so easily — he does have his share of high-brow tastes. He hasn’t been blogging much over the summer break, but he did take time last week to regale readers with his playlist on a recent stint guest-hosting an Opera Favourites program.
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