Channel Nine under pressure to bring back Paul Vautin as The Footy Show suffers ratings free fall
AS viewers continue to abandon the new look edition of The Footy Show Channel Nine executives are under increasing pressure to bring back ousted host Paul Vautin.
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CHANNEL Nine executives are under increasing pressure to ‘Bring Back the Fat’ as flagship program The Footy Show continues to suffer a ratings free fall.
Only three weeks into its new life without veteran host Paul Vautin, the rugby league staple has gone increasingly backwards in viewer numbers — especially among the key Sydney audience.
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Despite now having sports journalist Erin Molan in the host chair, Thursday night’s program tanked again attracting an average audience of just 77,000 in the Harbour City.
The worrying numbers not only continues a downward trend for the show that attracted 88,000 in week one and 82,000 in week two, but represents a 26% decline on the program’s 2017 season average.
As a result, a Facebook petition emerged this week for the return of Vautin, who late last season was axed after 23 years on set.
By Friday afternoon, the page had attracted close to 25,000 ‘likes’.
Exactly what impact Vautin would have on falling ratings is unknown.
However, several sources within the industry believe the current downturn has little to do with the 2018 format, or on-air talent, but rather the ongoing decline of the show’s popularity within recent seasons.
Last year, Nine’s Footy Show ratings slipped to an all-time low with Vautin as host, with reports suggesting viewership numbers were often as bad as 80,000.
That figure is a far cry from the halcyon days when The Footy Show regularly pulled in audiences of 370,00.
As a result, Molan was seen as the obvious choice to help boost viewership, particularly among female fans who had largely deserted the Footy Show for a wealth of Fox League programs headed by Yvonne Sampson.
Still, a poll run by The Daily Telegraph at the time of his axing had 61% of respondents saying Nine should keep Vautin as host.
Apart from dumping Fatty, Nine has also made a series of notable changes to help reverse flagging ratings.
Even after a shaky start this season, executives promised immediate improvements.
On Thursday night, for example, the program broadcast live from AAMI Park following the Grand Final rematch between Melbourne and North Queensland — with fans at the game able to hang around and watch Molan and her colleagues in action.
The move attracted mixed reviews however.