Yes they would. Pretty sure the deal said 7 will give a clean feed & Fox will use their graphics
5 Likes
I think 7 would have let Fox have own commentators this year if Fox allowed 7plus to show 7âs free to air games.
3 Likes
Not really. True, it may spread the talent thinner across TV and radio but itâll also allow some opportunities for new comers.
Good opportunity for young commentators and also recently retired players to do special comments.
2 Likes
Agreed, watch Ben Waterworth, Jess Webster etc become more prominent from 2025 onwards.
5 Likes
The issue will be the radio contracts. All the big fox callers arenât available on Thursday/Friday.
3 Likes
I believe everyoneâs media contracts run out this year to align with the new TV deal, so we may see some callers ditch some of their radio commitments to commentate more on Fox.
4 Likes
Mark Howard replacing Kath Loughnan hosting Super Saturday (at least this week). Theyâre back in the studio now (as they probably will be for most of the rest of the year).
5 Likes
Yeah, thought they might have gone four for four but not to be.
Has Howie hosted in the studio before?
1 Like
For Footy I think this is his first?
2 Likes
Iâm pretty sure when Anthony Hudson switched from SEN to 3AW it was mentioned that it gave him some flexibility to fit his Fox contract.
As for Matt Hill, he didnât do Thursday for SEN this week so I wonder if he has already cut back on radio given he has signed a more permanent Fox contract? I honestly donât know when the bloke sleeps between his horse racing and football commitments.
It will be very interesting to see where the pieces all fall into place next year.
2 Likes
Fox are doubling up on commentators on most 7 produced games with their own commentators either at the ground or in the studio.
As an example, tonight Howie, Eddie Betts, Nathan Buckley and Brad Johnson are in the studio for pre, half time and post game. If it was a Fox game, they would just commentate the game as well rather than sitting there watching 7âs coverage.
3 Likes
That example only works because Howieâs there instead of Jones or Loughnan like they ordinarily would have last year.
Most of the time the Fox studio crew for Ch 7 games is just ex-players and presenters. Would need to swap someone out for a âleadâ commentator for it to work next year.
2 Likes
For the Fox produced game they only had 1 caller and the rest were analysts. They did that on some occasions last season too.
Maybe a look to next season where they are calling all 9 games and might go with 1 caller for some games so not all of their callers have to do multiple games per round
2 Likes
Yes but they have almost enough lead commentators to manage this.
Currently on a 9 match round they have the following:
Huddo x2 games
Dwayne x2
Papalia x1
Howie x1
- Plus Kelli Underwood & Leigh Montagna (and this year Matt Hill) rotated through the schedule
Next year, probably something like this:
Huddo x2 games
Dwayne x2
Papalia x1
Howie x2
Matt Hill x1
Kelli Underwood x1
Leigh Montagna x1
4 Likes
Howie usually goes on his IPL tour during the season. But they can a few others to call the odd game. ABCâs Corbin Middlemas comes to mind who has done some BBL games for Fox in the past
2 Likes
They definitely should add Wheatley to call games too.
4 Likes
Fox have decided to use the full Perth team starting from this weekendâs Dockers game.
3 Likes
Can do this now with Loghnan moved full time back to Perth.
Pap/Pav/Schofield/Kath
3 Likes
*Whateley
I canât believe they donât use him! Gerard & Huddo together on Friday nights next year surely should be a no brainer for Foxâs coverage!
1 Like
Must be that he doesnât want to call on TV? I canât think of any other reason why he wouldnât be calling right now.
1 Like