Whats the Buzz: Michael Slater quits but Fattys back for 22nd year on NRL Footy Show
The Daily Telegraph
January 25, 2015 12:00AM
MICHAEL Slater has quit as co-host of Channel Nines Footy Show because of fears of burnout.
The daily 4am starts on Sky Radios Big Sports Breakfast combined with cricket commentary and Wide World of Sports hosting duties is too much for Slater when combined with the Footy Show.
Slater has sat alongside Fatty Vautin on the Footy Show for the last three years. In that time, under executive producer Glenn Pallister, the shows ratings have increased by 25 per cent and attracted far more female viewers.
Slaters personality has balanced the madness Vautin, Beau Ryann and Darryl Brohman bring to the show.
We now sit with an average 45 per cent of our audience being females, Pallister said.
My aim is to go 50/50 and to attract more kids. Slats is a terrific bloke who will always be a part of The Footy Show family.
We owe him a huge thanks for his work here over the last three seasons.
Slater recently signed a new three-year contract at Nine to coincide with the networks cricket TV contract.
I have loved my three years on the Footy Show, but cricket has always been my top priority and with so much on our schedule this year, I just cant give the Footy Show the commitment it requires, Slater said.
Meanwhile, Vautin continues to break longevity records as a prime-time television host.
This will be his 22nd year as host of the show and 25th year in television.
