Review: The Footy Show ratings continue to struggle

“I can feel a faint pulse” — that would be the response from a paramedic to last night’s edition of The Footy Show. But there’s one reason Channel 9 won’t pull the plug, writes Colin Vickery.

Neroli Meadows with host Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann. Picture: Nicki Connolly

“I can feel a faint pulse”. That would be the response from a paramedic to last night’s edition of The Footy Show.

Channel 9’s reboot of the iconic AFL entertainment program has been in emergency since it debuted on March 20.

Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann, Neroli Meadows, Dylan Alcott and Brendan Fevola took over the reins from Eddie McGuire and Sam Newman.

ROLLING AFL NEWS

BEHIND THE SCENES OF FOOTY TV SHOWS

The critics haven’t been kind and the ratings have been dismal for the retooled program. Last week it averaged a dismal 96,000 viewers in Melbourne.

The cast of the new Channel 9 Footy Show: Brendan Fevola, Neroli Meadows, Anthony 'Lehmo' Lehmann, Dylan Alcott and Shane Crawford. Picture: Nicki Connolly

That has led to calls to bring back McGuire and Newman or for Nine to put the show out of its misery.

Nine won’t kill it off because it would immediately gift opposition football show, The Front Bar on Seven a whole heap of extra viewers.

And the rival program is already raking in more than 500,000 viewers nationally, while The Footy Show saw only 194,000 across the country.

In Melbourne, The Front Bar saw 250,000 to 280,000 viewers over the hour. At its lowest point, The Footy Show dropped to 76,000, although the two shows were in different timeslots.

But last night’s edition of The Footy Show demonstrated signs of promise. Glimmers mind you, but enough to make me think that Nine should persist with the experiment.

The best thing about last night’s show by far were guests Patrick Cripps and Josh Bruce. The Carlton superstar and St Kilda high flyer were great fun.

In a positive sign, they were also way more relaxed than any players I saw on the McGuire/Newman version of the show.

Being quizzed by McGuire or Newman can be intimidating and so players often clammed up.

Eddie McGuire and Sam Newman at last year’s Grand Final Footy Show. Picture: Channel 9

Not so with Cripps and Bruce who seemed to relish the chance to shoot the breeze and poke fun at themselves with the new hosting line-up.

Nine insiders tell me that a whole raft of young AFL champions who shunned the old version of The Footy Show, are putting their hands up to appear this year.

When it comes to the presenters, Lehmann is the one struggling. He spent most of last night with his head down looking down at his running sheet. When he did pop in with a joke, it was a clanger.

Lehmann’s role is to direct traffic and he is clearly lacking experience in that area. He will get better with more shows under his belt.

Meadows has jettisoned the laugh which so many viewers found annoying in the first week and was solid.

Alcott had some pertinent words to say about McGuire’s recent on-air gaffe about double amputee Cynthia Banham’s coin toss.

Fevola was a mixed bag. Too often he was searching for a controversial headline (there are only so many times you can suggest that a coach be sacked).

He absolutely butchered a segment about Erin Phillips and the AFLW Best and Fairest Awards.

The Front Bar continues to dominate in footy TV ratings. From left, Andy Maher, Mick Molloy and Sam Pang. Picture: Channel 7

Early segments including the Silver Step Ladder (an award given to the player to unwittingly helps his opponent take a spectacular mark), Explained in 30 Seconds (where team mates gave insights into Cripps and Bruce), and Almost Football Celebrations (amateur footage of local team festivities) added spark.

Match analysis by Matthew Lloyd and Nathan Brown brought a touch of seriousness to proceedings. The team line-up announcements which dogged the old version of The Footy Show are done and dusted.

But about an hour into the program – with Cripps and Bruce gone - the wheels fell off. The Crawf Talk segment – basically Shane Crawford doing Street Talk – was a dud.

An interview segment at the AFLW Awards was also a shocker. Pseudo Echo awful rendition of the Collingwood theme song ended the show on a low. It was atrocious.

On the basis of last night, Nine’s reboot of The Footy Show is very much a work in progress. The big question is whether any viewers will stick around until they finally get it right.

Last night’s show averaged a new low – 92,000 viewers in Melbourne. Compare that to The Front Bar’s 263,000.

Is The Footy Show as good as The Front Bar? No way. Is it as good as The Marngrook Footy Show on NITV? Not on your nelly.

Nine’s only option is to keep persisting. Each episode of The Footy Show needs to be better than the last. Maybe then the show will go off life support.