I watched every minute of Agenda Setters and Footy Classified – here’s what I learned

Consider me a Monday expert on Monday's experts, on shows that now air well beyond just Monday nights. I watched every minute of Footy Classified and The Agenda Setters in the lead up to Round 1.

The two programs represent the latest chapter in Channel Seven and Nine battling for viewers with what is, effectively, the same product.

It is a rivalry that stretches since Bruce Gyngell uttered the words "Good Evening and Welcome to Television".

From the 6pm news wars to A Current Affair versus Today Tonight, and who could forget the late 1990s when Seven launched Live and Kicking to challenge the juggernaut that was The Footy Show.

The footy shows may have evolved, but the network rivalry has not.

There is also a heavyweight producer battle behind the scenes. Footy Classified is produced by JAMTV, Eddie McGuire's company, for Nine.

The Agenda Setters is produced by Rainmaker and SEN, Craig Hutchison's company, for Seven.

If you are wondering why the shows sometimes feel similar, that is probably part of the reason.

Footy Classified has been around since 2007. The Agenda Setters is basically a spin-off given Hutchison, Caroline Wilson and Kane Cornes have effectively crossed networks and recreated a familiar format.

Seven is not subtle about its intentions either. With a name like The Agenda Setters, the show is telling you exactly what it wants to do.

Hutchison has often spoken about shows being "snackable" on his Sounding Board podcast, and the production leans heavily into that idea.

Segments are designed to be clipped and shared online, complete with reaction shots and captions built for social media.

Seven seems fully committed to the format as well, expanding the program to three nights a week and even launching an NRL version debuting last week.

Whether it needs a third night is another question.

For me, Wednesday already belongs to The Front Bar, while the Adam Simpson and John Longmire coaching segment on AFL360 might currently be the best weekly discussion in footy media. By the time Wednesday arrives, the agenda may already be set.

Still, the midweek edition deserves a little time before we judge it too harshly.

The lead up to Round 1 offered a good snapshot of how both shows operate.

The Agenda Setters came out swinging. Monday night leaned heavily into opinion, with Kane Cornes and company quickly getting stuck into St Kilda after their Opening Round performance.

Tuesday's show made good use of Seven's broader newsroom resources. Mitch Cleary appeared with reporting around Hawthorn players Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald's overseas indiscretions before the panel turned its attention to North Melbourne, where Caroline Wilson warned the club could "implode" if things do not improve quickly under Alastair Clarkson.

By Wednesday the program had shifted slightly into bigger picture territory. Trade speculation in Round 1 always feels a bit like spotting Hot Cross Buns at the supermarket on Boxing Day. You know they will be everywhere eventually, but it still feels absurd seeing them this early.

Thirty weeks of the season to go and we are already browsing the trade aisle.

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters' looming free agency became one of the talking points, while another segment focused on Richmond's rebuild and the club's hopes that Adem Yze might deliver a premiership within six or seven years.

And if we are all in on snackable content, hearing the ambitious future of the club I barrack for is something I will gladly help myself to a serving of.

Footy Classified takes a slightly different approach.

Monday night felt more like a traditional post-round reset. Sam McClure, Damian Barrett, Jimmy Bartel and Matthew Lloyd moved through Carlton's off-field drama, St Kilda's bold list build, Collingwood's late-game composure and Hawthorn's early alarm bells.

That is where Classified still works best. It has a proper newsroom feel, with Barrett and McClure driving reporting, along with Lloyd and Bartell offering the sharper former-player critique.

But there is one element of the show I would love to see return more often: the old "Hot Seat" interview.

Some of those moments are part of football folklore. When Footy Classified sat the heavy hitters of the game across the desk and asked the tough questions, it produced some of the most memorable television the sport has seen.

As a non-rights holder, Nine arguably has the freedom to push harder than most. A proper grilling of the game's powerbrokers is something plenty of viewers would happily tune in for.

The Tuesday edition of Footy Classified feels like a slightly different show again. Where Monday reacts to the weekend, Tuesday leans more into the industry side of the game.

Eddie McGuire takes the host's chair alongside James Hird, AFL Media's Cal Twomey and the return of five time day – five time night Dermott Brereton.

McGuire still an old-school footy journo at heart, relishes breaking a yarn before anyone else gets hold of it, Twomey is the competition's walking contract database, and Hird tends to analyse situations through a coaching and list-management lens.

It is also simply good to see Hird back talking footy and being part of the game again. Whatever people think about the past, the game is usually better when legends of the game remain involved in it.

Brereton's return to Nine after his stint at Fox Footy adds a bit of old-school chaos to the mix as well.

The thing about the AFL media ecosystem is that half the people involved appear on each other's networks across the various different platforms anyway. By the end of the week the same story has usually travelled across television, radio, podcasts and social media.

The real race now is not just breaking the story.

It is being the first place people see the clip, and of course win the ratings.

In the end, the battle between Footy Classified and The Agenda Setters might be a bit like Coles versus Woolworths.
There is plenty of overlap, but each does things slightly differently and unlike the major supermarkets I don't think either intend to gouge the audience.

(I guess that makes Fox Footy more like Costco, given we have to pay just to get in)

As for where I will be doing my shop this week?

That probably depends on what they have on special.