Channel Nine’s Footy Show launches with line-up shake-up

CHANNEL 9 has outlined the strategy behind its trailblazing new footy show line-up after launching its beefed up 2018 NRL season coverage.

Channel Nine NRL’s Launch in Sydney.

CHANNEL 9 has finalised its footy show panels for 2018, after launching a new-look, beefed-up NRL show line-up.

The highly anticipated revamped Thursday Night Footy Show will return next Thursday with Erin Molan replacing Paul Vautin in the host chair.

The Nine star will be joined by rugby league immortal Andrew Johns and NSW State of Origin great Ryan Girdler. Funnyman Beau Ryan and audience favourite Darryl Brohman will also return to the show this year.

In an Australian free-to-air TV first, Nine will also feature a Monday night NRL panel show to be hosted by Wide World of Sports host James Bracey, Phil Gould, Paul Gallen, Ruan Sims and Neil Breen.

The Monday night show comes after Channe 9’s successful move into Monday night AFL programming with its Footy Classified show.

However, Channel 9 Director of Sport Tom Malone says the show will be drastically different to its AFL equivalent.

“Footy Classified is a great show, but it’s made for an AFL audience. Rugby league audiences are very different and they expect and want different things from their football programs,” Malone said.

Andrew Johns will be in the hot seat.

“In terms of free to air this is the first sort of rugby league panel, chat show and it’s more than that, but you have to present it different ways because the Aussie rules and the rugby league audiences are different and they want different things.

“Melbourne takes its football very seriously and from more of a conservative point of view. Sydney takes its football seriously, but also moves on pretty quickly. Like the city, it’s pretty hard and fast. You have to move quickly.”

The iconic Thursday Night Footy Show has also undergone radical changes to streamline the show and make it more attractive for the later 9.45pm timeslot.

With 23 live NRL matches on Thursday night in 2018, the show has moved to slash costs to move the show in-line with it’s later timeslot.

“People will notice a change to it,” he said.

“Andy O’Brien the EP (executive producer) has done a terrific job. Gary Burns (network consultant) has as well. Their brief has been make rugby league cool again. Make The Footy Show cool again.

“It’s a success already. From a business point of view we’ve remade it to a more appropriate show to follow Thursday night football. There’s more post-match analysis. It’s a cheaper show to produce. It makes more sense for the business.

“That was one of the main driving forces behind why we had to make a change. Two years ago we only had 6 nights of Thursday night. Now we have 23. There is no longer the need for an all-singing, all-dancing stand-alone Thursday night footy show. So we’ve remade it into what we believe is a better version at a better cost. We already think it’s success and we think viewers are going to like it as well.

“The targets are going to be different because it’s no longer going to be on at 8.30pm on a Thursday night. It’s not expected to draw the same audience that it would have at 8.30.”

Nine is yet to begin looking for potential replacements for Molan when she decides to take maternity leave this year.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTY SHOW

Erin Molan

Andrew Johns

Ryan Girdler

Beau Ryan

Daryl Brohman

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTY SHOW

James Bracey

Phil Gould

Paul Gallen

Ruan Sims

Neil Breen