Eddie McGuire

Edward Joseph "Eddie" McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian television presenter and businessman known for his long association with Australian rules football. He is currently the CEO of the Nine Network, the host of its game show 1 vs. 100 and president of the Collingwood Football Club.

He has also worked as a journalist, sports broadcaster and business entrepreneur. Before his time as CEO he was well known for hosting the Australian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and The AFL Footy Show.

Early media career

Born in Melbourne and growing up in the working-class outer suburb of Broadmeadows, McGuire is the son of a Scottish coal miner and an Irish farm girl who had arrived in Melbourne in 1958. He and older brother Frank McGuire both won scholarships to Christian Brothers College, St. Kilda East. Frank McGuire, who worked as a newspaper sports reporter, got Eddie his first job in the media as a Australian rules football statistician and cricket reporter for The Herald (1978 - 1982). Later he became a cadet sports reporter for Network Ten, and then transferred in 1993 to Kerry Packer's Nine Network, where he became the host of a sports variety program, The AFL Footy Show, acting as ringmaster as a variety of current and former football players used the announcement of team lists for the Australian Football League on a Thursday night as a pretext for a variety of antics.

The AFL Footy Show went on to become one of the most successful Australian television programs ever, reaching one million viewers in Melbourne alone for the 1997 Grand Final edition, a figure that was not far off the actual Grand Final telecast itself in Melbourne. The show has been the most popular show in its timeslot over its entire run and continues to be a major part of Channel Nine's schedule into 2007.

1999 onwards

McGuire's role at Nine expanded when he became the host of the Australian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, another hit that increased his exposure to the rest of Australia. He hosted the show from its premiere on 18 April 1999 until 3 April 2006.

McGuire's television high point may have been his hosting of the 2003 Logie Awards, broadcast live across Australia and seen by over two million people. His hosting was well received and helped the awards ceremony recover from the 2002 hosting disaster of Wendy Harmer. McGuire was subsequently invited back to host the ceremony in 2004 and 2005.

McGuire served as a football radio caller at Triple M, a station that had previously concentrated on wall-to-wall rock music. Within 12 months his football call went from 6% to over 12% of the available audience. McGuire also wrote a football column for The Herald's successor The Herald Sun, as well as becoming involved in a variety of sports and media-related business ventures.

His activities continued to expand and on 29 October 1998, his 34th birthday, he was elected to the presidency of Collingwood Football Club, a club that was then in financial and on-field difficulties. McGuire was elected by the vote of the members and the club has since become financially stable and its on-field performance has improved markedly (just missing out on the 2002 premiership). McGuire has commonly been held responsible for converting the team into a financial success, despite its fluctuating on-field results.

Eddie's activities spread still further when he became a prominent campaigner for Australian republicanism (the movement for replacement of the British monarch as Australia's head of state). He was elected as a delegate to represent Victoria at the 1998 Constitutional Convention, which led to the 1999 referendum.

Football media

When the Nine Network took over the rights to broadcast some AFL games in 2002 (after years of being denied access to footage), McGuire became host of the Friday night TV coverage. This became controversial when fellow broadcaster Tim Lane, long-time ABC chief radio caller, was also recruited by Nine but with a proviso in his contract that he would not have to call Collingwood games with McGuire. Lane believed that McGuire, as the club president, would be seen as less than objective and he didn't want to be associated with the conflict of interest. McGuire defended his professionalism and insisted that he call all Friday night games, Lane was sacked and Nine paid out his contract.

Despite Lane's sacking, Friday Night Football proved a huge success for Channel Nine, in no small part due to the presence of, in his own words, "the biggest name on the Nine Network", McGuire himself.[1] McGuire has also claimed that a recent decline in ratings for Friday night telecasts was partly because "I didn't do football this year."[2]

McGuire's business activities include TipStar, a failed commercial "footy tipping" game and, more lucratively, a production company (McGuire Media, founded 1997). His business activities are conducted in partnership with his brother, Frank McGuire, who is a former journalist.

Eddie is also a soccer fanatic and is passionate about European giants Glasgow Celtic.

He is married to Carla McGuire (née Galloway) and has two sons, Joseph and Alexander. He serves on many boards of companies and charities in Melbourne.

Controversies

During a match between the Brisbane Lions and St Kilda, McGuire claimed that several Lions defenders had unfairly targeted Saints' captain Nick Riewoldt's shoulder after he injured it going for a mark.[3] Lions' coach Leigh Matthews then slammed McGuire for using such language whilst recapping the Riewoldt incident. There has since been calls for McGuire to be banned from calling Lions games, but, as of 2006, he is no longer commentating any form of AFL. McGuire was also routinely criticised for one sided commentary particularly when his beloved Collingwood was involved.

CEO of the Nine Network

On 9 February 2006 it was announced that McGuire would become the new CEO of the Nine Network, filling a vacancy created by the departure of David Gyngell in May 2005. McGuire has had to sacrifice his on-air commitments including hosting The AFL Footy Show and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, as well as AFL commentry.

According to Business Review Weekly McGuire's on-air salary was $3.5 million a year. Gyngell had earned $1.1 million a year by comparison. According to the 2006 PBL annual report, McGuire is reported to be on a $4 million fixed remuneration contract.

In May 2006, McGuire travelled to Beaconsfield, Tasmania to rally Nine News reporters covering the mine collapse. On May 9 McGuire was seen on A Current Affair at the Beaconsfield Pub enjoying a Jim Beam and Coke with mine survivor Todd Russell. Having just shouted all in attendance at the pub free drinks Eddie announced a concert for the town that was partially televised on the Nine Network on May 11. The show performed well in ratings and helped Nine win that week in the ratings.

McGuire came out of on-air retirement to host the event, which was broadcast as part of The Footy Show (both versions). It is also rumoured he was in Beaconsfield to personally negotiate an exclusive deal with the miners to tell their story to PBL media outlets. If successful a story of this magnitude could give McGuire's network a much needed profile boost. He got both Todd and Brant for around $2 million when Channel 7 pulled out of the bidding. The interview, titled "The Great Escape", was shown on Channel 9 on 21 May 2006 and scored a huge 2.8 million viewers across Australia. As well as giving Nine a much needed boost to its overall ratings the telecast was also seen by many media commentators as boosting Nine's News Hour ratings which until then had been lagging behind rival Channel 7's.

McGuire also hosted a special edition of The Footy Show live from Munich on 18 June 2006, several hours before Australia were due to face Brazil in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The telecast scored 1.3 million viewers over three hours and won Nine the night in the ratings.

Before leaving for the Munich edition of The Footy Show he announced the elimination of 100 jobs, most in news and current affairs. Despite a vigorous publicity campaign by the CEO these cost-cutting measures severely damaged morale at the network.[4] On one program McGuire's required job-cuts exceeded the actual number of employees. This raised questions in both the media and within Channel 9 itself about the competence of Nine's executives.[5]

The troubles worsened when an affidavit written by a Channel 9 executive affected by the purges was leaked to the press and Nine failed in its attempts to suppress it (download the Mark Llewellyn affidavit). It contained damaging allegations regarding McGuire's treatment of employees. The document's author, Mark Llewellyn (previous head of news and current affairs who has since found work at Channel 7), claimed that McGuire and his staff had told him that he would be forced to "eat a shit sandwich" (accept a dramatic pay-cut). He also recalled conversations with McGuire where the CEO had spoken of wanting to "bone" (fire) Jessica Rowe, co-host of the network's Today show. Following these allegations McGuire guaranteed Rowe her position on the program.[6] McGuire has strongly denied the allegations. Many believe Llewellyn was simply angered at being forced out of Nine and made up the allegations to take attention away from Nine's poor News ratings while he was News Director. On 6 May 2007 it was announced that Jessica Rowe would not be returning to Channel 9.

On 1 September 2006 it was announced that Nine had lost Jana Wendt, despite McGuire's earlier claims that he would ensure she stayed at the network though not as presenter of Sunday. Wendt's move also contradicted reports in some media citing Nine sources who had suggested the high-profile journalist would return to 60 Minutes.

McGuire's decision to force Wendt off the Sunday program backfired with the relaunch of the show on 3 September 2006. The Nine Network's switchboard was flooded with an unprecedented number of calls complaining about the show's new format and hosts.[7]

This episode was considered by many in the media as a failure by the 'P-plated CEO' (a term coined by Sydney tabloids) to manage the network in a professional and ethical manner. It has also fuelled speculation as to his longevity in his position as CEO of Nine.[8]

James Packer (head of Nine's parent company, PBL) has been keen to publicly reaffirm his support for McGuire despite the network's increasing vulnerability in the ratings. He and others who have publicly supported McGuire claim that the CEO has been the victim of a media 'smear campaign'.

Despite unprecedented media criticism Channel 9 still managed to win the 2006 ratings despite rival Channel 7 having hits such as Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy. Nine's strong news hour on the east coast, its strong Sunday nights and high rating NRL coverage is thought to have got Nine over the line. PBL and Nine executives were eager to expose victory in the 2006 ratings war with Channel 7, paying for a half-page advertisements in national newspapers reaffirming their 'No. 1' status.

In January 2007 McGuire returned to the TV screen, hosting the Australian version of the world-acclaimed quiz show, 1 vs. 100. The game show premiered on Channel Nine on 29 January 2007, attracting over two million viewers.

On Friday 18th May 2007, McGuire announced his resignation.

McGuire in popular Australian culture

In 2004, the ABC comedy television program CNNNN featured a satirical skit about the presenter's permeation of Australian media, named the Eddie McGuire Virus.

The 12th Man album The Final Dig? suggests that Eddie plays Humphrey B. Bear in the Humphrey B. Bear suit.

External link

• Eddie McGuire at IMDb

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