Channel 7 is reportedly set to bring back the network’s flagship AFL panel show for the 2023 finals series.
The Herald Sun has reported a finals-version of the channel’s Talking Footy show, which is set to be called Talking Finals, is set to return in a midweek timeslot during the bye week before the start of the AFL Finals series.
With the final round wrapping up on Sunday August 27, it makes it likely it would debut in the week of August 28 to September 1 and run throughout the Finals series.
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The show is set to be anchored by Seven commentator and former Channel 9 Footy Show host James Brayshaw, and feature a panel of premiership captains including Joel Selwood and Trent Cotchin.
Cotchin's Tigers are still in the hunt for the finals but, with three rounds left in the regular season, are six points out of eighth place in 13th on the AFL ladder.
The Herald Sun reports Seven has spent months trying to establish the right formula for the show and it will follow a similar format to Talking Footy.
Talking Footy was Channel 7’s flagship panel show, originally airing in 1994.
It lasted 10 years before it was shelved, before it returned for the 2013 finals series and was hosted by Bruce McAvaney.
The following year, Luke Darcy moved from panellist to the hosts chair.
But Talking Footy and the channel’s Sunday review show Game Day were both axed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time, Seven’s head of network sport Lewis Martin declared it was only a “temporary hiatus” for both programs at the time.
However, neither have been seen since with the network refusing to bring either back due to reported “budget issues”.
The TV network then faced blowback from the AFL over the lack of dedicated AFL programming as the two partners butted heads during TV rights negotiations in 2022.
It left Channel 9 with a monopoly on free-to-air AFL talk shows, with both the Sunday Footy Show and Footy Classified, while Fox Sports has nightly analysis programming, including AFL 360 and On the Couch, as well as variety show Bounce.
Meanwhile Channel 7 has had to rely on its highly popular The Front Bar to feature its AFL content.
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But given The Front Bar is an entertainment show, that leaves AFL fans completely starved of analysis and in-depth discussion during the week.
It’s also believed that it could be the first step in Seven rebuilding its AFL analysis program with the network expected to sign St Kilda champion and former Fox star Nick Riewoldt for 2024.
Riewoldt was a hot commodity at the beginning of the year but put his media career on hold to relocate to the US with his family.
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