Eddie McGuire’s extreme move as footy TV war escalates

The Aussie football media landscape’s game of musical chairs has taken a sudden twist with Eddie McGuire making a big pivot.

Eddie McGuire is making his first major move after Channel 7’s recent signing raid to shake up the football media landscape.

The media mogul is reportedly set to pivot his Wednesday night Footy Classified program on Channel 9 to an earlier timeslot on Tuesdays in a bid to tackle the rival network’s new weekly football show.

Seven has been on the attack this year, having already poached McGuire’s Footy Classified co-hosts Caroline Wilson and Kane Cornes.

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The Monday night edition of the show has undergone upheaval in recent months with host Craig Hutchison also leaving the network after his media production company Rainmaker was given the job of producing Seven’s new show to be unveiled next year.

However, as first reported by Code Sports, it is the second show of the week that is making the biggest move with McGuire making the jump to the Tuesday slot where he will be partnered with Essendon legend James Hird, Geelong premiership winner Jimmy Bartel and journalist Damian Barrett.

That shift will put McGuire directly in competition with former stablemates Cornes and Wilson, who are expected to feature on a new Tuesday night show on Seven.

Eddie Everywhere. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Seven’s strategy to target Tuesday comes as the network prepares to host more matches on Thursday nights in 2025. This would force The Front Bar to establish a regular Wednesday night timeslot.

The Tuesday battleground is set to be a clash of the media giants after both networks beefed up their stable of stars heading into next year.

Seven is also going to look very different in 2025 after iconic newsreader Tim Watson and commentator Luke Darcy both announced they were leaving the industry.

According to reports, rising media star Dale Thomas is expected to have an expanded role with the network in 2025 — and may even work side by side with Cornes, despite the pair having a running war of words.

Ross Lyon, Caroline Wilson, Eddie McGuire and Matthew Lloyd on Footy Classified in 2020.

Perhaps the biggest move is the return of Hird to the industry with Nine.

Hird will replace Leigh Matthews on the show, joining host Tom Morris and Geelong great Jimmy Bartel.

“I miss the game,” Hird told Nine.

The 51-year-old coached the Bombers for three seasons but his tenure was cut short by the infamous supplements saga in 2013.

“The game’s a great game. I suppose the publicity side I haven’t missed.

“The time feels right. It’s been a long time since (being on) this side of football.

Dale Thomas and Kane Cornes.

“Going back and coaching with the Giants a couple years ago fuelled the fire a little bit.

“It’s a bigger game than when I was involved 15 years ago and the scrutiny is on every coach and every player the whole time.

“It’s the biggest thing in town and it’s good to be part of it.”

Seven has in recent years been unable to compete with Nine’s mid-week footy shows despite holding the TV broadcast rights through to the end of the 2031 season.

Seven’s Talking Footy, fronted by Essendon legend Watson, James Brayshaw, Richmond great Trent Cotchin and Geelong legend Joel Selwood, largely flopped in 2024.

However, under new Seven sport boss Chris Jones, the network is pulling out all the stops to end Nine’s reign as the No. 1 free to air footy panel show destination.