Ratings fall for new look The Footy Show

THE Footy Show is falling flat with fans with new figures showing audiences switching off the Channel Nine program.

THE Footy Show is falling flat with fans with new figures showing audiences switching off the Channel Nine program.

Love it or loath it, the long-running show has suffered a massive hit to its Melbourne audience in the past 10 years.

In 2007 The Footy Show had an average Melbourne audience of 418,000.

But the latest Oztam ratings show just 180,000 people watching in Australia’s sporting capital year to date.

It comes after Melbourne audience numbers fell from 280,000 to 266,000 between 2015 and last year.

Yet Nine executives have no plans to scrap the show, this year aired in a revamped format with Craig Hutchison and Rebecca Maddern sitting alongside Sam Newman.

New host Craig Hutchison with Sam Newman. Picture: Channel 9

A Nine spokesman told the Herald Sun the networked hoped ratings would rise.

“With three Thursday night AFL fixtures in the first four weeks of the season, the scheduling has been a significant challenge for the show,’’ he said.

“We’re confident when things settle the numbers will improve.’’

More: Footy Show freshen up continues with star Tiger

Footy Show return: Fans mixed on Hutchy

They were also pushing the line that it was “irrelevant to talk about ratings from 10 years ago’’.

“It’s a completely different world and if you look at any show that was around a decade ago, they’ve lost audience,’’ he said.

“To single out The Footy Show, which has dominated its timeslot for 24 years, is being mischievous and selective.

“The Footy Show is a strong brand and it’s ridiculous to suggest there’s any question mark over the show.”

Asked about lowly ratings from last week’s show, Nine said: “Last week’s numbers were knocked around by going head to head with a live game on Easter Thursday night, but the show still beat Seven and Ten.”

[e-mail]

@rolfep