Channel 7 has confirmed that after 18-year SEN chief Craig Hutchison is returning to the network in 2025.
Hutchison is Seven’s latest high-profile recruit to join Seven and will headline upcoming AFL news and opinion-driven program The Agenda Setters to air on Monday and Tuesday nights throughout the season on Seven and 7plus Sport.
Hutchy will host Monday night’s edition of the show, where he will be joined on the panel by recent Seven signings Kane Cornes and Nick Riewoldt.
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The Agenda Setters’ Tuesday night line-up — which will also feature Cornes — will be unveiled in full in the lead-up to the 2025 season.
Together with SEN’s TV arm Rainmaker, Seven has also announced a Wednesday night interview program hosted by commentator Hamish McLachlan titled Unfiltered, set to air on Seven and 7plus Sport each week after the fan-favourite The Front Bar.
“Seven is the home of free-to-air AFL, and has an unrivalled history, legacy and contribution to AFL football,” Hutchison said.
“These new shows will shape and set the agenda of the weekday discussion of football, which is at the heart of the game.
“The media and opinions around the game is the zeitgeist of what fuels Australian football, and we will bring the game’s biggest names to the table and call it as it is.
“And on a personal level, to return to Seven where I spent many years earlier in my career is an honour.”
Seven sport network director Chris Jones said the new schedule was a win for fans, with the network set to have football programming seven days a week across Seven and 7plus Sport in 2025.
“The Agenda Setters on Mondays and Tuesdays will be appointment viewing, and together with Rainmaker, we’ve assembled an incredibly experienced production team for this show to complement our unrivalled on-air line-up,” Jones said.
“Unfiltered on Wednesdays is going to take us behind the curtain and give fans the opportunity to learn more about the person behind the athlete. With Hamish McLachlan at the helm, viewers will be granted the best storytelling possible with the biggest and most fascinating names in the game.
“At Seven, we can’t wait to bring footy fans more content than ever before, every week of the 2025 Toyota AFL premiership season on Seven and 7plus.
“From mid-week footy analysis headlined by new signings Kane Cornes, Craig Hutchison and Nick Riewoldt alongside our existing group of AFL experts, to light-hearted footy content midweek, all before the first bounce on Thursday Night Footy, there has never been a more exciting time to be an AFL fan,” Jones said.
Footy fans are in for a treat in 2025, with Seven presenting AFL content every day of the week during the season, including games on 23 Thursday nights, 24 Friday nights, 25 Sunday afternoons, five Sunday nights, plus marquee games and every game in the finals series including – exclusive to Seven and 7plus Sport – the Brownlow Medal and the AFL grand final.
The seven-day-a-week football offering will include The Front Bar’s regular AFL shows and cricket and year-in-review specials, along with a series of brand-new offerings for Seven and 7plus Sport, giving footy fans access to fresh content every single day.
The AFL programs include The Agenda Setters, Unfiltered, Extra Time, Sunday FootyFeast, The Wash Up, Kane’s Call, podcasts and more.