The two broadcasters will join forces for The Long Weekend, a weekly radio show that ARN promises will be “full of opinion, energy and perspective” with a focus on news, sports and entertainment. Launching on June 19, the three-hour show will broadcast live on the GOLD Network from midday on Fridays, and will also be available to stream on iHeart, 9Now and Stan. It will mean Today host Stefanovic will now finish his week with another three hours live on-air after the Friday episode of
Today finishes airing at 9am each week. In a statement issued with ARN’s announcement today, Stefanovic said he and longtime friend McGuire were “ready to disrupt the status quo”. “ARN have given us this opportunity, now watch us go and have a proper crack,” he said. McGuire, who will also partner with ARN on a new sports-focused podcast series, said in a statement that he and Stefanovic had “been talking about working together for years”. “We’re going to bring our audience along to wherever the
big news, sport and entertainment is happening, with great music in between. Karl is one of my closest mates in the industry. Now we get to do this together,” McGuire said. The news comes amid growing speculation about Stefanovic’s future at Nine, with a report in The Australian’s Media Diary last month claiming that the longtime Today host had “signed a memorandum of understanding” with ARN, with the intention of making the move into commercial radio when his current contract with Nine expires in December.
Stefanovic’s move to commercial radio may seem odd, given the fanfare with which he launched his own independent, self-funded podcast recently. The veteran TV host launched The Karl Stefanovic Podcast on YouTube in January, and has attracted a string of high-profile guests, launching with Pauline Hanson before episodes that saw Stefanovic chat with guests ranging from Kyle Sandilands to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The project has been a huge success, with Stefanovic’s show now boasting more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube – thanks to
viral clips from his interviews with titles like “CLIMATE CHANGE IS BULLS**T: HERE’S WHY” and ‘THE FUEL WARNING POLITICIANS TRIED TO SILENCE’.” But one industry expert suggests the instant success of Stefanovic’s podcast might make it easier for him to decide to call time on his 20-year tenure at Nine. “Very few people have started their own platform and made a bigger splash as quickly as Karl,” former Nine presenter and Sports Entertainment Network CEO Craig Hutchison said on his own -podcast, The Sounding Board,
in April. “He’s made a far bigger splash than anyone expected him to in a very short time … and he’s attracting advertising money already.”
Karl Stefanovic, Eddie McGuire, ARN, The Long Weekend, GOLD Network, iHeart, 9Now, Stan, Today, Nine, radio show, podcast
So is he leaving Today or what? Seems like too many hours in radio.
I don’t get why everyone’s acting like this is some huge disruption. It’s just a radio show lol. Also “full of opinion” normally means just yelling about stuff.
Wait reply to #1 — I thought he already moved to ARN? Like didn’t he sign something last month? The article says memorandum of understanding and December contract stuff but honestly those reports confuse me. If his podcast is doing well that’s good for him I guess, but radio feels like a downgrade from TV.
The title sounds like it should be chill and instead it’s “opinion, energy and perspective”… yeah that’s not ominous at all. And why is it on GOLD Network and also streaming on iHeart/9Now/Stan? That’s like 4 different apps, I’m gonna miss it. Also his YouTube had that climate change clip with the swearing so now radio will be the same vibe? Probably advertising money already like they said, which is usually how it goes.