Craig Hutchison

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Craig Hutchison (born December 1974) is a Melbourne-based sports broadcaster well known for sensationalist stories. “Hutchy” has covered football commentary and breaking news stories as well as everything in between.

1 Early career
2 Seven Network
- 2.1 Controversy
3 Radio career
4 Defection to Nine Network (2007)
5 Awards
6 References

[edit] Early career

He commenced his career 1994 as a cadet and two years later moved to Sport 927 in Melbourne. He went on to join Channel Ten as a journalist and broke sport stories including Neil Balme’s sacking at the Melbourne Football Club as Senior Coach, Alastair Lynch’s drug hearing with the AFL, and the subsequent resignation of the Brisbane chairman following the story.

[edit] Seven Network

In 1999 he joined the Seven Network and was promoted to Chief Football Reporter, appearing nationally broadcast Sportsworld every Sunday. He was also "Fill-in" sports anchor for Seven News and host and creator of reality football TV show “The Club”.

[edit] Controversy

In 2004 he was at the centre of controversy when he wrongfully said St Kilda player Justin Koschitzke was being interviewed by police in relation to sexual misconduct allegations. Hutchison said Koschitzke and teammate Stephen Milne were involved, when it was actually Milne and Leigh Montagna. Channel 7 was forced to issue an apology to St Kilda and Koschitzke and issued a retraction.

[edit] Radio career

Craig joined Triple M in 1997 and two years later hosted the top rating ‘Ralphy and Hutch’ show. He has called AFL games every Saturday night since '97. Craig has shared Sunday's with Sam Newman, James Brayshaw, Stephen Quartermain and Jason Dunstall where each Sunday shamefully provides a preview to the day's game.

In 2006 he joined 3AW's football commentary team with Rex Hunt.

[edit] Defection to Nine Network (2007)

On 29 September, 2006 it was revealed that Hutchison would be leaving the Seven Network to join Channel Nine's football team in 2007. It was considered a shock defection due to the fact that Seven, who he had been with for eight years, won a share of the telecast rights to AFL matches for the first time since 2001.

As part of Hutchison's role with Nine, the start of the 2007 season saw him become host of Nine's newly introduced talk show Footy Classified. He was also appointed as a reporter for The Footy Show and National Nine News, with his first major stories being an exclusive interview with Jonathan Hay, as well as a trip to Malibu, California to follow Ben Cousins as he was admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre. ^[1]

A possible reason for his move to Channel Nine is that someone stepped in, and it's likely the "boss" Eddie McGuire has helped out in Craig's case.

[edit] Awards

He has been the recipient of many awards. These include being Five-time winner of the AFL Media Association Awards “Best Electronic News Reporter” and a Quill (Victorian Journalism Awards) for the most outstanding reporter in overall news.