Eddie McGuire: Melbourne TV personality shows no sign of slowing down

EDDIE McGuire doesn’t need an introduction. He has his feather in every cap and is now making a return to TV on the revamped AFL Footy Show. Take a peek behind the walls of Eddie Inc.

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THEY’RE all the same. Sports stars and politicians, movie stars and heads of banks.

They’re all known by their first name to Eddie McGuire, whose surname long ago became an optional extra.

McGuire chats with Malcolm (Turnbull). And James (Packer). He’s just as content yakking with the Collingwood boot studder, as one observer recalls. Surrounded by VIPs, they spent an hour deep in discussion late in the night after their club’s 2010 Grand Final win.

When celebrity chef Heston (Blumenthal) lands in Melbourne, he often dines at McGuire’s Portsea residence.

Eddie McGuire returns to the Footy Show team with Sam Newman and Rebecca Maddern. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Powerbrokers sometimes break bread at McGuire’s Toorak mansion.

McGuire called one such gathering not long ago, in what he might describe — not that he’s sharing — as a friendly bottle of wine between Ed, Gill, Stephen and Dan.

Others might hail the catch-up as an inaugural committee meeting for a sports rebuild of Melbourne’s skyline.

McGuire had a grand vision, priced at about $1 billion, for what he calls Victoria Stadium.

So he invited the AFL, the Melbourne Cricket Club and the bloke who officially runs the state, Premier Daniel Andrews, over for dinner.

McGuire has big dreams for Melbourne, which he adores for its seamless blend of arts and football. Over a long chat on Thursday, he nods to John Wren, throws up visions reminiscent of Robert Hoddle, and oozes the contagious enthusiasm of his mate Jeff (Kennett).

Since his big break as The Footy Show host in 1994, he has reduced a thriving metropolis to a dependable and dizzying set of contacts.

At 52, he is buzzing about his return to The Footy Show, despite the naysayers who smugly point to falling ratings and diverging viewer habits.

He “has no idea what will happen”, he says of Thursday’s program, except that “love” and “fun” of the game will be driving forces.

Eddie McGuire, pictured at the Channel Nine studio, Docklands. Picture: Mark Stewart

He is arguably more powerful than ever. Yet this is McGuire: if the preceding sentence is true, then some will argue that his interests must therefore also be more conflicted.

McGuire bristles at “conflict” (as well as “power”), throwing back “perceptions of fairness”.

He has been mounting such arguments since a “wary” AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson said — on McGuire’s election as Collingwood president — in 1998: “In truth, I do think he will be in a position where he will have to manage conflict.”

McGuire’s unseen influence — coupled with his renewed visibility on The Footy Show — has been a talking point for TV industry heavyweights. A joke swirled in certain circles about the “Eddie Bus” this week. Sacked Footy Show host Craig Hutchison went under it 16 days ago, went the gag, to be joined by Magpies’ chief executive Gary Pert last week.

McGuire’s many hats — and the perceived potential for conflicting loyalties — has been closely assessed at the highest levels of Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media. He was put on notice by station chiefs the day after the Footy Show announcement. It’s thought they are still wondering whether McGuire, the production company head, and McGuire, the on-air talent, can be separated.

McGuire doesn’t see an issue. “They wanted to know what was going on and we told them,” he says of Channel Seven.

James Packer, Eddie McGuire and Shane Warne at Eddie McGuire's 30 years in television party.

“We do good shows for Channel Seven and we have a really good economic model and they’ve been wonderful partners and we hope that continues to be the situation.”

Others foresee problems. “He’s started moving into uncharted waters and probably doesn’t understand how many reefs there are that can be hit,” one senior industry figure told the Herald Sun this week.

The Footy Show will compete against Seven’s “little show that could”, The Front Bar, on Thursday nights. The Herald Sun understands that all of McGuire’s TV production company contracts with Channel Seven — worth about $5 million — will be reviewed at the end of the year.

“It will be watched keenly, there is no doubt about that,” another TV figure said.

“He (McGuire) thinks that everyone is going to go along with it — but at some point, everyone is not going to go along with it. His (Footy Show) return was the worst-kept secret in the country. He’s been trying to make it happen for some time.”

JAM TV is the TV production company offshoot of McGuire Media. JAM TV helps produce five Seven programs, including the Monday night AFL show, Talking Footy. JAM TV, which will co-produce The Footy Show, will next year take over Nine’s Monday night offering, Footy Classified.

Actor Andrew Clarke, politician Alan Stockdale and Eddie McGuire at the 1997 Grand Prix Ball.

JAM TV turns out up to 600 hours of TV a year. McGuire and Cos Cardone, who produced The Footy Show for a decade until 2007, came up with the concept in 2010, inspired in part by the making of dancing, dating and reality programs by specialised producers.

The vision seems obvious to industry players now, but it was a masterstroke then.

The media landscape was fragmenting and cash-strapped networks would outsource their sporting needs.

McGuire seems invigorated, despite the Collingwood ructions. Colleagues say McGuire (who recently joked he was only warming into the presidency) is torn over the looming decision on coach Nathan Buckley. He fumed this week about ill-founded and self-perpetuating media speculation about the position.

“I was fat,” McGuire says, of a recent crash diet, which was also prompted by his recognition that younger acquaintances were starting to die.

He wanted to feel good again, a necessity for his crazy hours. His days begin at 4.30am. As soon as the shower water hits, he “is on” — family members complain he prepares with the care of an elephant.

TV presenter Eddie McGuire with cricketer commentator Richie Benaud holding Allan Border Medal for Australia's best cricket performer.

To describe his drive, he tells the fable of the gazelle and the lion. Both start the day running. One will die and one will starve, depending which runs faster.

He’s usually wearing a suit, hunched in a studio, when the first tram rattles past Triple M’s South Melbourne studio before dawn. On a good day, he’s home by 11pm.

According to Cardone, a similarly work-obsessed image materialises of McGuire at the beach: “He goes on holiday and six ideas come through a day while he’s sitting somewhere. In terms of television he’s always on. His two great loves are footy and television. Put the two together and it’s his happy space.”

Sharon McCrohan is credited as an architect for the enduring success of the Bracks Government. The former ALP spin doctor, who now consults to Collingwood, describes him as a force of nature. McGuire drove a recent $85 million sports infrastructure initiative in the Latrobe Valley.

“He’s more selective about the things he wants to do in life,” McCrohan says.

“He doesn’t need to prove anything anymore, except to himself.”

McGuire’s breadth and reach is easy to grasp. In person, he is affable and self-effacing, helpful and hopeful. Even Richard Colless, the former Sydney Swans chairman who once gave McGuire the bird on TV, describes McGuire as “eminently likeable”.

His approach, especially at Collingwood, has been described as “autocratic”, though confidantes argue he is a good listener who will always support the best concept, no matter who brings it to the table.

That’s off stage. On air, he says he seeks to be the “conductor” of an orchestra, revelling in the rush of live TV. Of this much he is certain — it’s the closest a middle-aged man can get to the thrill of elite sport.

As for the gazelle and the lion? McGuire doesn’t say which he is.

Eddie McGuire after his diet. Picture: Supplied.

Molly Meldrum, James Packer, Shane Warne and Eddie McGuire.

Eddie McGuire founded and chairs JAM TV, a TV sports production company which makes up to 600 hours of TV a year for Channels 7,9, 10, ABC and Foxtel

JAM TV Shows include:

Talking Footy (7)

The Footy Show (9)

The Recruit (Foxtel)

Friday Night Countdown (7mate)

AFLW (7)

Netball World Cup 2015 (10)

VFL (7)

SANFL (7)

WAFL (7)

The Kick (7)

That’s Racing (racing.com)

Possible pick-ups:

Footy Classified (9)

Sunday Footy Show (9)