Former political journalist and longtime ABC host Barrie Cassidy has slammed the national broadcaster's coverage of the Queen's death. 

Mr Cassidy said the network has made a mistake and not paid attention to its audience by broadcasting almost non-stop coverage of the long-reigning monarch's death. 

'I suspect the ABC has misread its audience.

If you want wall to wall royalty you can get it elsewhere in spades,' Mr Cassidy said.

'The ABC is better when it offers an alternative to populism.'

The ABC cut into its regular programming to break the news of the Queen's passing last Friday at 3.30am, shortly after the news was announced in the UK. 

ABC News Breakfast was on air before 4am with co-hosts Michael Rowland and Lisa Millar, dressed in formal black outfits and speaking on the importance of her legacy. 

Since then its coverage has crowded out almost all other domestic and international news.

Mr Cassidy has been a feature on the ABC for more than two decades, firstly as the host of the Sunday morning political commentary program Insiders from 2001 to 2019, before taking over as the host for interview program One Plus One in 2020.

The latest controversy is the fact the ABC has sent local hosts such as ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland and production crews to London to cover the aftermath of the Queen's passing. 

On September 12, Michael Rowland posted to Twitter that the broadcaster would be doing the morning show out of London which was met with anger. 

Twitter user @RonniSalt was especially outraged, labelling the ABC's coverage of the death 'an indulgent order of mourn porn'.

'In an act of bizarre recreational grieving, the ABC have flown highly-paid talking heads and crew halfway across the world at our expense ...

A shocking abuse of the ABC's charter - and our money,' she wrote.

ABC journalist and host of The Drum Ellen Fanning, however, leapt to the defence of the network in response.