The 2020 AFL Footy Season is upon us, and it brings with it a return of the familiar and the launch of the new on Fox Footy.
The network has unveiled its schedule of shows for the season ahead with a mix of comedy, light entertainment, footy analysis and live-action.
Eddie McGuire and Sarah Jones will lead FOX FOOTY’s weekend of live-action with select games to air exclusively of FOX SPORTS Ultra HD channel.
Season 2020 also sees the return of AFL 360, On the Couch, Open Mike and a new-look Bounce.
Fox Footy General Manager Mick Neill says they were keen to bring the show back to pay homage to Danny ‘Spud’ Frawley, who passed away last year.
“It was a hard decision, and we spent a long time thinking about it, talking about it, working it through. But when we got the Bounce team together, they were all ‘Spud would have wanted it to keep going.’”
In 2020, host Jason Dunstall will be joined by plenty of familiar faces including Andrew Gaze, Cameron Mooney, Sharni Layton and Bernie Vince on the Bounce stage.
“We think Spud is irreplaceable and that’s why we’re not bringing in someone new to take his seat. We just don’t think that would work. The show will change a little bit, naturally and organically, but with Jason Dunstall at the helm, we know it’ll be another great year.”
FOX FOOTY is also launching two new shows to provide viewers with a little bit more. Gogglebox favourites Adam and Symon have moved off the couch to present the new show Premierships and Footy Trips.
Each week the boys will sit down with a legend of the game, sharing yarns fans have never heard before. North Melbourne legend Glenn Archer is first off the rank, with a plan to bring back memories of footy life in the ‘90s.
FOX FOOTY is also taking another punt on comedy with Narrow World of Sports hosted by sporty comedians James ‘the Professor’ Rochford and Andrew ‘Barney’ Barnett.
Their new show will air each Friday night after Friday Night Footy on FOX with the network hoping it will fare better than last years Up the Guts hosted by Lawrence Mooney.
In an interesting strategic move, Narrow World of Sports will be broadcast on both FOX FOOTY and NRL focused sister channel FOX LEAGUE. However, the first segment of the program will be specially tailored for each market, before moving into a more general comedic look at the big sports stories of the week.
Neill reckons they’ve got the mix just right for the season ahead.
“You’ll see more of what we do best. We’ll have a bit more fun while we’re doing it. You’ll see a little bit of a refreshment and a couple of new shows.
We’re always looking to up the ante and be more entertaining and more fun with the best coverage you can get. We’re trying to give the viewers a bigger and more rounded offering.
We respect the game when the game’s on, but away from the game we’ll have a bit of fun as well. We’re just trying to have something for everybody.”
FOX FOOTY’S 2020 WEEKLY TV LINE-UP (All times EDT)
MONDAY
AFL Tonight at 7pm
AFL 360 at 7.30pm
On The Couch at 8.30pm
TUESDAY
AFL Tonight at 7pm
AFL 360 at 7.30pm
Open Mike / Bob (middle of year) at 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY
AFL Tonight at 7pm
AFL 360 at 7.30pm
Footy Trips and Premierships at 8.30pm
THURSDAY
Thursday Night Footy on FOX (game)
FRIDAY
AFL Tonight at 7pm
Friday Night Footy on FOX (game)
Narrow World of Sports (after the footy)
SATURDAY
Super Saturday (games)
Saturday Stretch (after the footy)
SUNDAY
Sunday Footy on FOX (games)
Bounce (after the footy)
The First Crack (after Bounce)
Nikole Gunn has been a watcher of TV since the 70s. A writer of words since the 80s. A reader of the news since the 90s; mostly on Triple M, Nova and Gold.
Twitter – @NikoleGunn