Craig Hutchison's rise from Footy Show bombing to media mogul

News.com.au

5 days ago

2017 was a big year for media mogul Craig Hutchison.
Not only did he become the owner of a radio station, he also took over as the lead host of the iconic The Footy Show, thanks to James Brayshaw's contract war with Channel Nine.
Garry Lyon had already left the show in 2016 and Hutchison had been the host of the Sunday Footy Show and Footy Classified and was one of the most high-profile choices available in Nine's stable.
'Hutchy' was following in the footsteps of one of his idols in Eddie McGuire — taking the hot seat on one of the country's longest-running shows.
But the revamped version of the Thursday night staple bombed, and Hutchison was outed in July that year and McGuire back in the hosting chair, a stinging blow.
'To me Eddie McGuire was where he wanted to be, he modelled himself on Eddie,' Hutchison's former colleague at the Herald Sun, Jon Anderson, said.
The final straw was Hutchison's co-star Sam Newman delivering a silent protest after being muzzled by the network on certain topics.
'I've always been one of those polarising guys,' Hutchison said on SEN radio the day after his Footy Show sacking.
That blow may have however, helped create a media empire, as Hutchison expanded his SEN horizons, bringing on massive names across the country including Matty Johns in Sydney, Ian Healy in Brisbane, Adam Gilchrist in Perth and Garry Lyon and Tim Watson in Melbourne.
But the rise of SEN hasn't always been linear, with Sports Entertainment Group losing $9.2 million in a year and racing against a deadline to pay a $28 million Commonwealth Bank loan in late 2023.
Hutchison had been in preliminary meetings about selling the company before a buyer appeared for his NBL team, the Perth Wildcats.
The deal valued the Wildcats at $40m, with $21 million paid in August 2024, another $15m in to be paid in June 2026 and a final $4 million in June 2028, which wiped out the debt that may have crippled his company.
Hutchison is still in the hosting chair however, leading the way in Channel 7's revamped football coverage as the host of The Agenda Setters on Monday nights.
The move from Nine to Seven was not without creating some headlines, as Hutchison took with him the opinionated Kane Cornes and his long-time friend Caroline Wilson to spearhead a new era.
Wilson, who is one of the few people to call him Craig, often drove Hutchison home after filming Footy Classified each week for 17 years.
But that close friendship hasn't held the two back from their own on-air frost on set, with the two arguing about a joke Wilson recently made about Hutchison's brutal axing of talent at RSN.