Will be really interested to see how Fox’s coverage comes together next year.
If I had to make a few suggestions for some changes:
Bring back ‘Best on Ground’ to air Fridays from 6pm-7pm before the footy, with Mark Howard, Jack Riewoldt, Ben Dixon and Ruby Schleicher
Friday night team consisting of Sarah Jones, Jason Dunstall, David King and Leigh Montagna, providing pre-game analysis from 7pm-7.40pm, quarter time, half time, three quarter time and a full post-match analysis. They will be based live at the ground for Victorian matches or in the studio for interstate matches.
A dedicated commentary team for Friday nights, separate to the above mentioned hosting team, consisting of Anthony Hudson, Matt Hill, Nathan Buckley, Jonathan Brown and Kelli Underwood as boundary reporter.
Thursday night (OR-R15)/Saturday night (R16-R24) team comprised of Garry Lyon, Nathan Buckley, Jonathan Brown and Jordan Lewis, based live at the ground for matches in Victoria or in the studio for interstate.
Similarly to Fridays, have a separate dedicated commentary team for those matches on Thursdays/Saturdays
I think Fox should give some thought to retaining their current weekly combinations for games produced on Seven, whilst having separate commentary teams for the actual games, as per above.
If Anthony Hudson is to call Friday night matches for Fox Footy next year, he will only be available for 3AW’s Thursday night broadcasts given his Fox Footy commitments.
3AW covered at least two Thursday night matches this year: the season opener and the qualifying final between Port Adelaide and Geelong. Next year it is set to broadcast every Thursday night game under a new radio broadcast deal which is being finalised.
It’s not possible to schedule 4 games on a Saturday without overlap, so I’d schedule them 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm with 503 showing the 1pm and 5pm games with proper pre/post game, and 504 showing 3pm and 7pm games
As for the news that Binge would be showing some AFL games, my suspicion is that it would be the Ch7 games with Fox Footy coverage. That way, people without kayo don’t watch 7 and it boosts Foxtel’s numbers. Don’t think they’ll put exclusive games on Binge as they’ll want to encourage people to pay for that.
I would lock in a 1.45, 2.10, 4.35, 7.30 Saturday. Overlapping occurs on afternoon slots so can get the bigger shares on twilight and night game. Not that it matters (subscription) but you can finally get a decent comparison to ratings vs NRL who never overlap
Recently retired Geelong premiership forward Tom Hawkins is the latest signing for Fox Footy’s 2025 commentary line-up. He has been a regular guest on AFL 360 during his playing career.
Fox Footy is also working through its new-look AFL 360 program, after journalist Mark Robinson was axed. Melbourne great Garry Lyon, a long-time prominent commentator, has been approached to replace Robinson. Should Lyon leave, a new host for On the Couch will need to be found. Former St Kilda star Leigh Montagna had been considered for the role, an industry source who did not wish to be named, said.
This was largely because he’s not the type of guy who’s comfortable talking about himself. When he did speak to the media he was clearly more comfortable talking about the team and shifting the focus off him.
He could have a place doing media bit differently - his analysis I’m sure would be great, and he’d show the players a different kind of respect to what many in the media do.
It’s clear something’s happening. This is almost a staged appearance to get people talking. Everyone at that table is savvy enough to know that’s not the location for a first meeting and confidential discussion.
Fox Footy and Ralph Carr have both effectively confirmed something is in the works:
The AFL released dates and times for the first 16 rounds of 2025 home and away season this afternoon. Saturday afternoon matches will have the new start times of 1.20pm and 4.15pm AEST (this year was 1.45pm and 4.35pm AEST), to allow Fox Footy to have a special 30-minute build up to the Saturday night primetime game.
At least two Saturday matches will start even earlier, at 12.35pm AEST.
SUPER SATURDAY BREAKDOWN BY CLUBS FROM OPENING ROUND TO ROUND 15
9 – Port Adelaide
8 – Gold Coast, GWS
7 – Adelaide, North Melbourne, Brisbane Lions
6 – Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, Richmond, Sydney Swans, Western Bulldogs
5 – Collingwood, Melbourne, Carlton
4 – St Kilda, Hawthorn
3 – West Coast
Fox Footy and Kayo will show the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft live from Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium this Wednesday (November 20) from 7pm AEDT.
EDIT: ahead of the national draft telecast, Fox Footy will air half-hour highlights of the best match each No.1 draft pick in recent years had been involved in, starting with Marc Murphy at 12.40pm AEDT.
