Media Street: Latest news and whispers from AFL TV and media world
Never mind simmering, the Hawks board fight keeps boiling and both sides have media movers and shakers on their cheersquads.
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A Sunday AFL football show will return to Channel 7 next year with a rebooted version of Game Day in the planning.
The move comes after pressure from the AFL in the recent TV rights negotiations, where the league made it clear they thought it was unacceptable that the free-to-air rights holder offered no auxiliary programs outside of the game broadcasts.
It’s understood the idea for the new show is in the initial planning process but it will be different to Game Day, which was a staple on Sundays until it disappeared early in 2020 as the Covid crisis hit.
Since then rival Channel 9 has upped the ante in the analysis and opinion market with the popular Sunday Footy Show going from strength to strength while Footy Classified has expanded to two nights a week.
Seven has relied on the highly successful Front Bar to carry its AFL content during the week and while it has been an extraordinary ratings winner, it is about entertainment rather than the nuts and bolts of the game.
Who would host the new show will be the subject of great debate at Seven’s Docklands headquarters over the coming months.
Hamish McLachlan was the main host of Game Day while Abbey Gelmi is the network’s rising star, although she is scheduled to give birth to her first child with former Richmond star Kane Lambert early next year.
The show could potentially be the perfect vehicle for Daisy Pearce to further enhance her credentials on the analysis front.
An interesting sidebar will be which news breaker they use with Tom Browne and Mitch Cleary two of the best in the business. Their rivalry and chemistry is a fascination for many in the media world, and potentially they could be used together like they were in last month’s trade period.
That experiment had mixed results, but if Seven wants to own the Sunday landscape again, utilising its two news hounds would be a good starting point.
MEDIA MOVERS AND SHAKERS BEHIND HAWKS BOARD FIGHT
The messy Hawthorn board election has engaged some interesting mover and shakers behind the scenes.
Cricket broadcaster Adam Collins is used to political campaigns given he was formerly a media adviser and speech writer to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan. He is firmly in the Andy Gowers camp, pumping up @Hawks4Change on his vast social media following.
Great night at the Glenferrie Hotel speaking to and calling fellow Hawks members about the upcoming election. pic.twitter.com/AKVaWdOPPO
— Hawks for Change (@Hawks4Change) November 22, 2022
Influential crisis manager Mark Hawthorne is also backing Gowers.
Former Victorian deputy premier James Merlino’s push for a spot on the board is also interesting given his former right-hand man is fighting against him.
Matt Dixon was Merlino’s adviser but is now Hawthorn’s media and corporate affairs boss, which means he is running the club’s agenda set by former Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett.
Kennett wants vice-president Peter Nankivell and is throwing bombs left, right and centre at Gowers and any of his former teammates who bob up to support him.
Nankivell is also gathering some powerful allies behind the scenes, hiring a leading crisis management company to run his campaign.
While there are some political heavyweights involved on both sides it isn’t a simple Labor v Liberal scenario as Kennett has been pedalling given Gowers has handed out ‘How To Vote’ cards for the Liberals at multiple elections.
SITUATION VACANT AT AFL HQ
The AFL is still in the market for a media manager after a last-minute change of heart by North Melbourne’s PR star Stacey Oates.
Oates, who learnt her trade at Geelong before joining the Kangaroos last year, was poised to move to headquarters before North president Sonja Hood pulled out all stops to get her to stay at Arden St.
The league has been looking for a media guru after Stephanie Jones, a former adviser to Dan Andrews, only lasted two months.
Jones had replaced Nadine Rabah, who left the league to become Collingwood’s media boss.
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