Andrew Mercado is a writer/producer/presenter who specialises in Australian Film and TV pop culture via his YouTube channel TV Icons and the TV Gold podcast.
He was one of the first openly gay people to be seen on Australian TV when he began appearing on music network Channel [V] from 1999. He was regularly seen on Mornings With Kerrie-Anne, Studio 10, A Current Affair and SBS World Movies while also hosting shows on Foxtel like The Buzz, The Know and The Playlist.
He also curates and produces material for Umbrella Entertainment and Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive.
He has been published in The Australian Women’s Weekly, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian and written columns for Sydney Star Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, TV Week and TV Soap.
He currently writes a weekly column for industry website Mediaweek, and a monthly column for gay magazine DNA.
His first book Super Aussie Soaps, a history of Australian TV dramas, was published in 2004. Since then he has contributed chapters to books The 100 Greatest Films of Australian Cinema and Very Special Episodes: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious.
His latest project is Outrageous: The Queer History of Australian TV. This documentary premiered during World Pride at the 2023 Mardi Gras Film Festival. It has since screened at the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival, where it won Best Feature Film, and The Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival .
Outrageous will soon be released as a book through Australian Scholarly Publishing.
Andrew also owned and operated the South West Roxy Cinema in Northern NSW, and he hosts Trivia Nights in Newcastle at the Cricketer’s Arms Hotel on Tuesdays and Lowlands Bowling Club on Wednesdays. He presents Music Bingo at Lowlands every Thursday.
