Editing Fox Footy Channel

{{Short description|Channel dedicated to Australian football}}
{{About|the defunct Aussie rules television channel|the current channel|Fox Footy|the association football channels in the United States|Fox Soccer|and|Fox Soccer Plus|Fox Football Channel, the defunct association football channel in Southeast Asia|Fox Sports (Southeast Asian TV network)#Former channels}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2010}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name              = Fox Footy Channel
| logo              = FOX Footy Channel.svg
| logo_size         = 200px
| logo_alt          = Fox Footy Channel Logo
| launch_date       = 6 March 2002<ref>[http://video2.foxsports.com.au/video.php?cat=112&id=5857 FOX SPORTS Video Player] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109063357/http://video2.foxsports.com.au/video.php?cat=112&id=5857 |date=9 January 2008 }}</ref>
| closed_date       = 1 October 2006
| picture_format    = [[576i]] ([[SDTV]])
| country           = [[Australia]]
| language          = [[English language|English]]
| replaced          = [[C7 Sport]] (Optus)
| replaced_by       = [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports 3]]
| owner             = [[Foxtel]]
| website           =
| availability_note = at time of closure 
}}
'''The Fox Footy Channel''' was a channel exclusively dedicated to [[Australian rules football]].  It was owned by [[Foxtel]] and operated out of their Melbourne-based studios.  From 2002 to 2006 it was available on [[Foxtel]], [[Austar]], [[Optus Television]], [[TransTV]]<ref>{{cite news | newspaper =  [[Canberra Times]]  | title =  TransACT offers more movies, more sport and more enjoyment| page = 41  | date = 12 June 2005 }}</ref> and [[Neighbourhood Cable]] until transmission ceased on 1 October 2006. The channel was revived as [[Fox Footy]] for the 2012 AFL season after a new broadcast agreement was reached between [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports]] and the [[Australian Football League|AFL]].

==History==
The channel was created in 2002 after [[News Limited]] won the television broadcast rights to the [[Australian Football League|AFL]] for the 2002 to 2006 seasons. It granted [[free to air]] rights to the [[Nine Network]] and [[Network Ten]] and granted the subscription rights to [[Foxtel]]. Fox Footy was originally offered by Foxtel for an additional subscription during the first two seasons of the rights agreement; however, it was moved to the Basic package in February 2004, making it available to all Foxtel subscribers without additional charge for the balance of its life.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/03/1072908951765.html Fox Footy package is free for a price]. From ''[[The Age]]'' online, 4 January 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2007.</ref>

Due to broadcasting rights, each state had a separate version of the channel to allow free-to-air right holders exclusive live coverage.  For example, if Channel Nine or Channel Ten broadcast a match between the [[Adelaide Crows]] and [[Sydney Swans]] live in Adelaide, Fox Footy would have been prevented from showing the match live, whereas if Nine or Ten didn't broadcast it in Melbourne, Fox Footy would be allowed to show it live there.  Fox Footy typically repeated all matches after they were played, although often with the commentary of the free-to-air network that presented it live originally. Fox Footy only broadcast the AFL and not any state football leagues such as [[South Australian National Football League|SANFL]], [[West Australian Football League|WAFL]] or [[Victorian Football League|VFL]].

===End of the channel===
The future of the channel was placed in doubt after the [[Seven Network]] and [[Network Ten]] were awarded the AFL rights from 2007 to 2011. On 23 August 2006, Foxtel announced the Fox Footy Channel would cease broadcasting at the conclusion of the current AFL season and be replaced with [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports 3]]. Foxtel CEO [[Kim Williams (media executive)|Kim Williams]] stated "It's not financially viable to continue operating a 24-hour-a-day (Australian rules) football channel when we can only get three live games a week and not on the terms we have sought."<ref>
{{cite news
 | title =  Broadcasters brawl as Foxtel axes AFL
 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Broadcasters-brawl-as-Foxtel-axes-AFL/2006/08/23/1156012608114.html
 | agency = [[Australian Associated Press|AAP]]
 | newspaper = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
 | date = 23 August 2006
 | access-date = 6 September 2009
 }}
</ref> The channel ended after a replay of the [[2006 AFL Grand Final]] at 4.00am. Seven and Ten later came to terms with Foxtel and four games per round will be shown on pay-TV through the [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports]] channels.

===Revival===
{{Main|Fox Footy}}
It was announced on 28 April 2011 that the channel will be revived for the 2012 AFL season. The channel returned exclusively on Foxtel and its broadcasting partners, under the proposed new name of ''Fox Sports AFL'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/foxtel-to-deliver-every-afl-game-live-via-dedicated-fox-spor-124760.htm |title=FOXTEL to Deliver Most Comprehensive Live AFL Coverage Ever |access-date=11 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103051536/http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/foxtel-to-deliver-every-afl-game-live-via-dedicated-fox-spor-124760.htm |archive-date=3 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which was later changed back to its original name ''Fox Footy''. The channel relaunched on Friday 17 February 2012 with the first [[NAB Cup]] [[Round-robin tournament|round-robin]] match between [[Hawthorn Football Club|Hawthorn]], [[Richmond Football Club|Richmond]] and [[North Melbourne Football Club|North Melbourne]] broadcast that night. ''Fox Footy'' broadcasts all NAB Challenge games exclusively, all home and away matches and all finals matches (except for the Grand Final which screens exclusively on Seven). All matches are broadcast [[Live television|live to air]] in both [[576i|Standard]] and [[1080i|High Definition]] with no commercial breaks during play. When two live matches are being played simultaneously, [[Fox Sports (Australia)|Fox Sports 1]] broadcasts one of the matches. Football personalities and commentators who signed or re-signed to be a part of the relaunched channel included [[Eddie McGuire]] (who commentates one non-[[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] match a week and hosts his own talk show), [[Gerard Healy]], [[Paul Roos (Australian rules footballer)|Paul Roos]], [[Jason Dunstall]], [[Dwayne Russell]], [[Brad Johnson (Australian footballer)|Brad Johnson]], [[Alastair Lynch]], [[Tony Shaw (Australian rules footballer)|Tony Shaw]], [[Liam Pickering]], [[David King (footballer, born 1972)|David King]], [[Danny Frawley]], [[Mark Ricciuto]], [[Glen Jakovich]], [[Anthony Hudson (commentator)|Anthony Hudson]] and [[Dermott Brereton]].

== Former 2002–2006 commentary team ==
* [[Clinton Grybas]]
* [[Matthew Campbell (Australian footballer)|Matthew Campbell]]
* Jason Bennett
* [[Kevin Bartlett (Aussie Rules footballer)|Kevin Bartlett]]
* [[Gerard Healy]]
* [[Jason Dunstall]]
* [[Wayne Schwass]]
* [[Mark Aiston]] ''(Saturday Adelaide Games Only)''
* [[Kym Dillon]] ''(Sunday Adelaide Games Only)''
* [[Chris McDermott]] ''(special comments)'' ''(Adelaide Games Only)''
* [[Tim Gossage]] ''(Saturday Perth Games Only)''
* [[Peter Wilson (Australian rules footballer)|Peter Wilson]] ''(special comments)'' ''(Perth Games Only)''
* [[Alastair Lynch]] ''(special comments)''
* [[Tony Shaw (Australian rules footballer)|Tony Shaw]] ''(special comments)''
* [[Wayne Carey]] ''(special comments)''
* [[Scott Cummings (footballer)|Scott Cummings]] ''(boundary rider)''
* [[Tiffany Cherry]] ''(boundary rider)''
* [[Glenn Manton]] ''(boundary rider)''
* [[Richard Osborne]] ''(boundary rider)''

The Sunday afternoon game covered by Fox Footy usually had the combination of Grybas, Carey and Healy; Saturday afternoon saw Bennett, Schwass, Lynch or Shaw; while Bartlett and Campbell were among the Saturday night match commentators.

== Programming ==
Fox Footy produced and aired shows, including:

* [[White Line Fever (TV series)|White Line Fever]]
* Saturday Central
* [[On the Couch (Australian TV series)|On the Couch]]
* Living With Footballers
* AFL Lovematch
* The Gospel
* Grumpy Old Men
* Classic Quarters
* The Fox Footy Archive
* [[Fox League Teams]]
* Fox Footy Feature
* From The FOX Footy Vault
* Footy Flashbacks
* [[Auskick'n Around]] - Featuring "The Lynch Mob"

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Foxtel}}
{{Sports television channels in Australia}}
{{Subscription television channels in Australia}}

[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 2002]]
[[Category:Defunct television channels in Australia]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:English-language television stations in Australia]]
[[Category:News Corporation subsidiaries]]
[[Category:History of Australian rules football]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Sports television networks in Australia]]