Only in Melbourne can the news about who will be calling the football create as much interest as in the game itself.

But Tuesday's shake-up at both 3AW and Triple M is notable on a few fronts.

Brian Taylor crosses from Triple M to head up AW's Friday night and Saturday afternoon team, replacing Rex Hunt, who in turn will join Triple M on Saturday afternoons.

Hunt leaves AW after 20 years as the lead caller on the Friday, Saturday afternoon and Sunday calls. Sunday afternoons were still his on AW if he wanted, but having sniffed the wind, he decided to move on altogether.

Hunt had plenty of fans, but also plenty of detractors, with a colorful call in which his idea of humour often took priority over mundane, but important matters such as the score, the time and roughly where the ball was on the ground.

Colour and humour are also part of Taylor's calling arsenal but the important stuff - time, score and where the ball is - is never forgotten.

Longevity has always been a feature at AW. Norman Banks was the chief caller for more than a quarter of a century, Harry Beitzel chalked up 17 years, while Hunt was in the chair for 20 years. But with football being such a key part of the station's DNA, AW has never been afraid to pull the trigger and institute some sort of generational change with respect to its calling team.

And it has certainly done that, replacing Hunt with Taylor in the hope he will bring with him some of the younger, blokier Triple M audience.

Indeed, AW's Saturday line-up sounds most appealing with Taylor and Denis Cometti calling the play, Leigh Matthews on special comments and Mike Sheahan part of the pre-game coverage.

Triple M has also enjoyed a harder edge to its pre-game show with plenty of news, but that's never been Hunt's shtick and how that all plays out will be a challenge for its footy department. It is also interesting to note that Eddie McGuire, Triple M's new breakfast host, has so far not been mentioned in any discussion about the station's 2010 football plans.

Nor has SEN talked much about its plans for next season, although The Age says it might make a play for Tim Lane, which is a smart move. The all-sport station might be the place for us tragics to get their 24-hour footy fix during the week, but when it comes to weekend match commentary, it still runs a distant fourth, which in some respects is a shame. SEN's 11am Saturday show, Crunch Time, might be the best footy radio show of them all.

There are plenty of ad dollars at stake in the battle between AW and Triple M hence the news on Tuesday, but both stations need to lift their games to regain the title as Melbourne's no.1 footy station, which by the end of 2009 belonged to the ABC.

And in our opinion, most deservedly so.