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.
5On The Couch — Fox Footy, 2002-present
On The Couch earns its spot as the natural successor to Talking Footy and one of the defining Monday night shows. When Seven lost the AFL rights after 2001, Fox Footy basically picked up the couch, moved it across town and launched a familiar but vital new version with Robert Walls, Gerard Healy and Mike Sheahan in 2002.
Yes, it was effectively a blatant copy of Talking Footy, but it quickly became appointment viewing in its own right. Walls brought the coaching/hard hitting opinion edge, Healy brought the tactical brain and a whole new footy vocabulary, while Sheahan remained the journalist with the contacts book and raised eyebrow.
It gave us proper post-round analysis, Champion Data-driven discussion before everyone was drowning in numbers, and memorable moments like Brock McLean lighting the fuse on Melbourne's tanking debate in 2012.
It remains part of the Fox lineup, now with Jordan Lewis and Jack Riewoldt among the new members of the couch, and while it probably does not quite carry the same weight it once did, On The Couch helped make serious Monday night footy analysis an essential part of the viewing diet.
