Global car giant Nissan will terminate its sponsorship deal with The Footy Show at the end of the 2016 AFL season in the wake of Sam Newman's scathing rebuke of Age journalist Caroline Wilson.
The news comes as the embattled program posts slumping ratings figures, after moving from its regular Thursday timeslot to a Wednesday.
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Nissan dumps Sam Newman
Sam Newman's comments might be costing The Footy Show money after Nissan pulled the pin on their sponsorship arrangement with the show, citing his behaviour as the reason.
Fairfax Media has learned that crisis talks took place between Nine managing director Ian Paterson and Nissan Australia chief executive Richard Emery last week, after Newman defended his close friend Eddie McGuire over the "ice bath" furore.
During a Triple M radio segment McGuire said he would pay $50,000 to see Wilson held underwater, and later called the award-winning journalist a "black widow" who will "burn you like everyone else".
Newman described reporting of the story as a "backwater of garbage" peddled by "cowardly excrement" in "second-tier media".
He also declared: "The jig is up Caro, honestly and truly. You've become an embarrassment. Even if you were underwater, you'd still be talking".
The statements may be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Fairfax Media can reveal that senior Nissan executives and Nine management met at the car giant's Dandenong headquarters on Thursday.
Sam Newman blasts Caroline Wilson
The Footy Show presenter blasted Caroline Wilson over her response to Eddie McGuire's on-air comments, saying it was blown out of proportion. Vision: courtesy Seven News Melbourne
Those in attendance included Mr Emery, his senior marketing manager Mitchell Wiley and Nine's sales director Matt Scriven.
Nissan has been a major sponsor of both the AFL and NRL versions of The Footy Show since 2009.
Nine was told that Nissan was unhappy with the remarks, which did not fit with the company's "core values", and it was unlikely the sponsorship deal would continue beyond this AFL season.
The car company refused to confirm publicly if it had ended the deal with Nine.
"The comments made by Sam Newman that were broadcast on The Footy Show last week do not align with Nissan's brand values and we have discussed this matter with Channel Nine," said a company spokesman. "As you would expect, Nissan's ongoing marketing and sponsorship arrangements are commercial in confidence."
Nine boss Ian Paterson said Nissan was one of three major partners of The Footy Show.
"All of our partnerships are based on a year-to-year commitment and on that basis we'll sit down with all our partners at the end of the year to review 2016 and discuss 2017," he said.
But sources have told Fairfax Media that Nissan will end its relationship with the program after this AFL season.
No decision has been made about the car company's deal with the NRL footy show.
Nissan's decision to pull the pin comes at a difficult time for the program, which lost host Garry Lyon after news broke of his affair with the ex-wife of colleague Bill Brownless. But its Newman's comments, directed at Wilson, that have irked Nissan.
"I'm not going to specifically address any of Sam's comments but I can confirm that we're completely supportive of him as we are Caroline Wilson," said Mr Paterson.
Rebecca Maddern was signed as the first female co-host of the show this year and 425,000 Melburnians tuned in to see her debut on April 7, when the three-city audience was 582,000.
That result was a six-year high for the show in Melbourne, which has averaged just under 300,000 viewers a week in Melbourne this season. Nine claims this is a 15 per cent increase year on year.
The episode that aired on June 9 was watched by 326,000 people in Melbourne.
Last week, Nine screened the show after the State of Origin rugby league match on Wednesday. Despite the change of day and the 10.30pm start, it drew 240,000 viewers in Melbourne.
But this week, just 163,000 tuned in to the show (plus 46,000 in Adelaide and 56,000 in Perth).
Mr Paterson defended the show's performance and said it was dominating its timeslot.
"I'm excited by what's been achieved by The Footy Show in 2016 and we can all look forward to a long future," he said.