Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire have been shopping around a show together for years – ARN is just the first broadcaster to bite.

While the pair will both keep their jobs at Nine, they join a growing list of Nine alumni who have headed over to ARN in the past 12 months.

News of Stefanovic and McGuire joining forces on a new show made headlines when it was announced yesterday, but many in the industry were not surprised. According to three separate sources, the powerful pair have long been working to get a show off the ground for “at least two years”.

“They’ve been pitching the show around for years, at least two years; it is nothing new in the industry, and they’ve been really pushing it,” a source told news.com.au.

McGuire told news.com.au that this was not the case and said the show on ARN’s station GOLD has only been in the works for the last couple of months.

The former Nine chairman also clarified that he and Stefanovic had been talking with ARN well before The Kyle and Jackie O Show was axed.

Stefanovic and McGuire are the first major talent appointments for ARN since the termination of both Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson’s separate $100 million contracts.

Kyle and Jackie are now contesting their separate terminations with separate and expensive legal cases.

Amid the fallout ARN’S chief executive Michael “Stepho” Stephenson, the former head of sales at Nine, has looked to his mates to help bolster the network.

MORE: Karl’s $20m exit plan as Ch9 rumour exposed

Both McGuire and Stefanovic have longstanding personal and professional relationships with Mr Stephenson.

The trio even celebrated their professional reunion with a blokey dinner at the Grill Americana in Sydney’s CBD.

There’s some pretty big Nine history between the three of them, in 2007, when McGuire was the CEO of Nine, he was Mr Stephenson’s boss.

Stefanovic is not the third wheel by any stretch of the imagination. He might never have been in a position to give his new boss orders, but over his 20-year career at Nine, he has earned a well-liked reputation for being willing to play ball with commercial.

As a result, he has also workedcloselywith Mr Stephenson.

MORE: Karl Stefanovic’s multimillion-dollar breakup

The gang might be happy to be reunited and ordering $100+ steaks but it is ruffling some radio feathers at ARN that Mr Stephenson, has yet again brought over Nine alumni.

Ever since he became the big dog at ARN, the broadcaster has become a refuge of sorts for ex-Nine heavyweights.

Four key appointments have been made since Mr Stephenson took over the reins, and they’re all from Nine.

A source told news.com.au that some employees at ARN are finding the Nine infiltration challenging, noting a “problem” with many of the recent additions not having radio backgrounds.

Staff working on The Kyle and Jackie O Show particularly have complained of feeling left in the dark about their futures and the network’s plans.

It is quite the impressive list of Nine defectors.

Nine’s former director of data and digital advertising, Ben Campbell, jumped over in 2025. He is now the head director of digital strategy, data and digital ventures at ARN.

Richard Hunwick made the move around the same time, going from director of sales at Total Television at Nine to director of sales at Total Audio at ARN.

Kerri Elstub, ARN’s chief content officer, was previously the director of digital platforms for Nine.com.au.

But wait, there’s more. It was just announced that Shauna Anderson, who was previously the managing editor atNine.com.au, is joining ARN as the director of content for iHeart.

This all comes as Nine in the middle of some serious cost-cutting it flagged in 2025 that it aims to cut a further $100 million in costs by 2027.

It was also recently announced that 20 jobs in television news and current affairs are facing the chop at Nine in 2026.

Despite the fact that both McGuire and Stefanovic are mates with the CEO, the boys aren’t taking on a prime time spot at ARN.

They’re doing the 12-3 shift only on Fridays, hoping to pounce on the fact that the working week has changed and people are often working from home on Fridays instead of heading to the pub.

The show will also be filmed, will then be repackaged for 9Now and Stan.

There is industry speculation that Stefanovic and McGuire are essentially auditioning in real time for a better slot with ARN.

A fun theory, but you also have to remember Stefanovic is still locked into his reported $2.8 million contract with Nine until December.

Even if he wanted to give the now threadbare but prime breakfast slot a crack, he couldn’t until December because of his Today Showduties.

So this could be less about auditioning and more about a soft launching his working relationship with ARN.

Then again … it also worth noting that Karl isn’t all in at ARN; his podcast, The Karl Stefanovic Show, remains independent of the broadcaster.