Football television has been part of the fabric of the game for almost 70 years.
Shows have sprawled over every night of the week, ranging from prime-time panel slots, breaking news, analysis and comedy. All had their niche, and with that, the interest from the fans.
Trying to rank the greatest football programs of all time is no easy task. Some changed the way the game was discussed. Some entertained generations of supporters.
But who takes the cake as the best of the best?
These are the greatest footy shows ever produced.
9AFL 360 — Fox Footy, 2010-present
AFL 360 earns its place because it became Fox Footy's nightly heartbeat. Launched in 2010 with Gerard Whateley and Mark Robinson, then turbocharged when Fox Footy relaunched in 2012, it gave the channel a proper flagship: part news desk, part fireside chat, part therapy session for footy tragics.
At its best, Whateley's polish and Robbo's heart-on-sleeve chaos made for a genuinely unique pairing. It could swing from tribunal drama and coaching pressure to the poetry of the game in about 30 seconds, which was half the charm.
The show has also been there for the big moments: Buddy's move to Sydney, the Essendon supplements saga, Phil Walsh's death, COVID chaos, Grand Final week and more than 1200 episodes of nightly footy theatre.
For all that, perhaps the time when Robbo was transfixed by the Moon in the background of a picture of a Jacob Van Rooyen spoil on the Gold Coast takes the cake for the most memorable.
Now with Garry Lyon alongside Whateley, AFL 360 has evolved again. It is not always perfect, but it remains one of footy TV's most important modern institutions.
