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Seven revisits AFL variety format

Despite its failure with The Bounce last year, Seven is revisiting the idea of an AFL-based variety show to complement its AFL rights.

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The Seven Network is revisiting the idea of an AFL-based variety show to complement its AFL rights acquisition.

Despite its failure with The Bounce last year, Seven is reportedly re-thinking its desire to have a primetime AFL show.

Whilst Nine has had success with The Footy Show and TEN’s Before the Game, Seven has been unable to succees with a primetime show, despite having AFL rights. ONE recently added more footy analysis and even ABC had picked up community TV show Marngrook Footy Show.

Last year it belatedly staged some primetime editions of AFL Game Day in the Finals season, hitched to the Ben Cousins documentary. It has previously staged Live and Kicking and The Game.

Seven’s Melbourne General Manager, Lewis Martin, told the Herald Sun, “We’re always prepared to have a go. There are a lot of upsides to going live,” Martin said.

Martin would also not rule out buying an existing program such as Before the Game -although two of those regulars, Mick Molloy and Ryan Fitzgerald begin with Nine this week in the new sports panel show, Between the Lines whilst remaining with TEN.

FOX Sports callers Brian Taylor and David King, and members of TEN’s commentary team, could also be poached to front an expanded team.

Meanwhile Seven confirms it will show the Round 8 Friday night top-of-the-ladder clash Geelong versus Collingwood live into Melbourne from 7.30pm.
 
“This match promises to be an epic first versus second clash featuring two great in-form clubs in front of a huge MCG crowd,” said Martin.
 
Friday May 13
Geelong v Collingwood from MCG
Melbourne     7.30pm Live
 
Saturday May 14
Better Homes & Gardens

6 Responses

  1. 7 always try too hard to sanitise and make the demographic of their ‘variety footy shows’ too wide. They always end up too polished, too nice and very bland.

    Footy shows need to be very down to earth and a little rough around the edges. Punters need to think they are real and not so showbiz.

  2. If Seven is airing Saturday night games next year, it should just buy Before The Game from Roving Enterprises/Ten. Show it on 7 in VIC/SA/WA and 7mate in QLD/NSW

  3. Wish the $475 million channel 7 pay for the free-to-air rights between 2012-16 over a week back had the provision in it for 7 not to make a AFL based variety show. Didn’t they learn anything for last year attempts.

  4. Won’t this give them a mirror image of the programming problem they had last year when The Bounce had been axed but Matty Johns was still going? They had a show rating OK-ish in its markets but were left with a vacant timeslot in the other markets which they were forced to fill with low-rating dross. They’ll have to come up with a much better solution for non-AFL markets if they want to give this a go.

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