Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire have joined ARN and forces for The Long Weekend which will be heard on iHeart and across GOLD Network, 9Now and Stan.
This substantiates rumours that Karl was joining the network, although many had speculated it was as a replacement for Kyle Sandilands. Eddie McGuire joining ARN after extended periods with Nine, SCA‘s Triple M and as President of AFL team Collingwood, has flown under the radar.
The pair will host The Long Weekend – a weekly news, sport and entertainment show full of no-holds-barred discussions that will set the tone for the weekend ahead.
It is an Australian first, produced audio and video format program with distribution across broadcast radio, live radio streaming, podcast, social, free-to-air streaming, premium SVOD and globally across the iHeart network.
The Long Weekend will be first be broadcast live on the GOLD Network on Fridays between 12-3pm across Australia. Toni Tenaglia who normally hosts that shift will anchor the new program, and it will also be live streamed and on demand on the iHeart network across New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, the United States, and the UK and video streamed through 9Now and Stan.
This is another step toward ARN’s ‘entertainment business’ ambitions, creating and distributing across audio, video and socials.
Additionally, ARN and McGuire Media will collaborate on a new, yet to be named, sport-focused iHeart original podcast series. There is no word on The Karl Stefanovic Show, whether it will continue or join iHeart as well. It currently operates independently. Karl’s contract with the Nine Network breakfast program Today runs out at the end of this year.
Eddie McGuire said:
“This is a wonderful new chapter. Karl and I have been talking about working together for years, and to do it on this scale, nationally on GOLD, internationally on iHeart, on 9Now and Stan and with JAM TV as a production partner is a once in a career opportunity. 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. Off we go.”
Karl Stefanovic said:
“Since I was born, I’ve been a student of radio and announcers. The intimacy of the medium is powerful. Working with Eddie makes it even more exciting for me. We’ve been friends for a long time. We are both ready to disrupt the status quo and let me tell you, we’ll have plenty of fun along the way. God, don’t we all need that. ARN have given us this opportunity, now watch us go and have a proper crack.”
It is possible that this is a trial to see how the pairing and show might fit on breakfast in 2027. Sydney and Melbourne are well represented. Gender diversity, not so much.
The Long Weekend commences on June 19, 2026.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.