This is the exact day The Footy Show died
IT was once unmissable television, pulling in millions of viewers. But The Footy Show has hit the skids. And insiders can pinpoint the exact moment the downward spiral began.
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ASK Channel 9 insiders the date that changed the course of The Footy Show and they will nominate Saturday February 13, 2016.
That is when the network released a statement saying that Garry Lyon was stepping away from the program.
The former Demons champion had been co-hosting The Footy Show with James Brayshaw, along with Sam Newman since 2006 and it was still rating strongly — but that disintegrated in a blink.
Billy Brownless was devastated to discover that Lyon, his colleague and close friend was having an affair with ex-wife Nicky.
As controversy swirled, Lyon stood down from The Footy Show and other media commitments citing mental health issues.
Lyon’s shock exit and the affair hoopla is a trauma that Nine insiders believe The Footy Show never recovered from. It set off a chain of events that have ramifications to this day.
“That is when everything changed,” a Nine source says.
The immediate effect was that the Lyon-Brayshaw hosting combo was no more.
Lyon went on indefinite leave and Nine had to contemplate a replacement.
But just as damaging was the fact that the jokey camaraderie that had fuelled The Footy Show’s success was stripped bare.
FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTY DUDS KILL RATINGS
RIFT KILLED FOOTY SHOW’S ‘GOOD TIMES’
Lyon and Brownless had worked together for 15 years but now their friendship was in tatters and seemingly irreparable.
Former Melbourne teammate David Schwarz described the situation as “a tragedy” because of “shocking decisions that had been made by consenting adults that have crossed a line”.
Radio’s Francis Leach pondered whether the revelations would kill The Footy Show saying “the fun’s over and it’s pretty hard to go back to the good times”.
In March 2016, The Footy Show featured an emotional interview with Brownless — choking back tears — who said “it’s just wrong” and “a good mate wouldn’t do that”.
It was distressing viewing.
The lighthearted banter that had fuelled The Footy Show for more than 20 years had been shattered. Its soul had been ripped out.
From then on, an air of sadness has hung over The Footy Show. What had been a fun escape from everyday problems for hundreds of thousands of viewers had turned into a turgid soap opera.
Brayshaw soldiered on and was confident he could host The Footy Show solo while Lyon was on extended leave (few believed he would return) but Nine had other ideas.
RINGING THE HOSTING CHANGES
At the end of March, Nine announced that Rebecca Maddern, fresh from Seven, would co-host alongside Brayshaw.
It was an uneasy fit. Blokey humour had been The Footy Show’s mainstay but now it was a new era and everyone struggled to adapt.
Too often it felt like Brayshaw, Newman and panellists including Brownless and Shane Crawford were second-guessing themselves — never quite sure what they should or shouldn’t say for a laugh.
The Footy Show got a spike for Maddern’s debut but that quickly evaporated.
By the end of the year, Brayshaw was gone after a protracted contract dispute.
Time for another revamp, with Craig Hutchison replacing Brayshaw for the 2017 season, but that was another stumble.
Hutchison was the wrong fit. Nine sources now say that management rushed the decision — something they came to regret.
When Lyon stepped down, AFL legend Kevin Bartlett said on SEN that he believed The Footy Show would overcome the short-term agony.
“As long as there is Sam Newman, The Footy Show goes on,” Bartlett said.
But even Newman wouldn’t have reckoned on the dizzying number of hosting changes that have rocked The Footy Show in recent times.
It was Newman’s silent protest last July — aimed at Nine management and not Hutchison — that triggered the most recent shake-up.
Within 24 hours, Hutchison was gone and McGuire was back in the hot seat.
“Yesterday all hell broke loose after Sam’s effort on Thursday night and from about 12.30-2.30 it was all systems go,” McGuire told ABC radio.
During all of this upheaval, Channel 7 decided that The Footy Show was vulnerable.
SEVEN TAKES AIM WITH THE FRONT BAR
They saw a weakness and exploited it by bringing The Front Bar from late night into direct competition.
It turned out to be a genius move. If Lyon and Brayshaw had still been at the helm of The Footy Show, would that have ever happened — you would have to doubt it.
McGuire returned to The Footy Show with the best of intentions — to resurrect the program that was so close to his heart — but we now know that is likely an impossible task.
McGuire is remaining positive. He knows from his experience at Collingwood that sheer persistence counts for a lot.
Right now The Front Bar is the ratings frontrunner but it is nowhere near the sensation The Footy Show was in its heyday. People could tire of it over time. The tables could be turned.
“I believe in the last eight weeks The Footy Show has been really back in form, which takes a little while to do when you’ve got a new host and people stepping in and out,” McGuire said.
Let’s not forget that The Footy Show could have easily died a death after Eddie McGuire left in 2005 to become Nine CEO. Finding a replacement was no easy task.
It was the combination of McGuire, Sam Newman and Trevor Marmalade that made The Footy Show, which premiered in 1994, such a ratings phenomenon.
Lyon and Brayshaw weren’t fully able to capture that lighting in a bottle but they gave it a good shake. Credit them for giving The Footy Show an extra decade of shelf life.
Any television program that has lasted more than 700 episodes and 24 years deserves to be celebrated.
Last week Lyon said on radio that The Footy Show is “probably coming towards its swan song”.
“Let’s not rewrite history, this was the biggest show in town for 20-odd years,” Lyon said. “There’s a new boy on the block (The Front Bar) and good on them.”
There are certainly people at Nine that believe Lyon’s sudden exit in 2016 hastened that decline.
As Herald Sun reader Gianna wrote in My Say “the stoush between Garry Lyon and the other guy didn’t help”.
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