Friday June 26‘s episode of The Long Weekend, which airs at midday AEST across the GOLD Network, iHeart, social platforms, 9Now and Stan, will be a host short with Karl Stefanovic confirmed to not be appearing.
ARN said that Karl ‘made the decision to stand aside’ as they ruminate on the long term decisions on his future. Eddie McGuire will host solo, alongside newsreader Georgia Love and anchor Toni Tenaglia. The new show has had just two episodes.
Nine Entertainment confirmed Karl’s departure this morning saying:
“Nine Entertainment and Karl Stefanovic have agreed that it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast. While Karl and Nine had previously agreed he would leave Today at the end of this year, they have subsequently decided he will leave the Network immediately.“
It must also be mentioned that Karl isn’t in the country. He is in London, where he recorded his controversial episode with Tommy Robinson and his farewell address below, during leave from his now defunct Today role. How he intended to be part of the Friday show anyway is up for debate, unless via a 3am recording from the UK.
With the end Karl’s long relationship with Nine, and the very brief one so far with ARN, he, like his friend Kyle Sandilands, is unlikely to be able to shop around until the end of this year, if Nine have paid him out.
That means he will lean into his independent podcast, like Kyle will also start doing in a couple of weeks. Unless they decide to do something together. There’s some food for thought.
If these two alphas do stay solo then all of a sudden they compete for the same potential sponsors, subscribers and advertisers, who are willing to endure the wrath of the MFW and gamble on ‘brand unsafe’. And, based on both speaking towards One Nation voters, to fight over the same guests. The type of guests, like Tommy Robinson, who we aren’t likely to hear or see on commercial radio or television anytime soon.
I’m not sure the pot is big enough for both stirrers.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]. You can subscribe to this publication for just $199 per annum (less for community stations, students and pensioners) and support local media. Celebrate Radioinfo in its 30th year.
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