Amid growing speculation about his future with Nine, Karl Stefanovic has just inked a major deal that involves another famous Aussie.
Amid much speculation about Karl Stefanovic’s future at Nine, radio network ARN has today announced that it has signed both Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire to create “a major new entertainment format”.
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.”
Source: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/radio/karl-stefanovic-and-eddie-mcguire-sign-with-arn/news-story/5a0ab717097eb8e520d9dba0e12bf973