The Kyle & Jackie O Show may have had a bumpy start in Melbourne, but their latest ratings suggest some ground is finally being made. The KIIS 101.1 breakfast show, simulcast from Sydney, showed signs of upward movement, adding 0.5 points to reach a 5.6% share in the latest radio ratings survey, the 4th for 2025.
While that’s still some distance from Melbourne’s FM leaders, it marks progress after what Kyle Sandilands previously called a “disaster”, echoing Australian Radio Network (ARN) CEO Ciaran Davis’ assessment.
Despite Kyle’s ambitions to take the show national, ARN is holding the line.
“Well, look, I would say the majority of The Kyle & Jackie O Show’s content is universally entertaining,” said ARN Chief Strategy & Connections Officer Lauren Joyce.
“It’s not a show that’s absolutely tethered to the city it’s produced in. I certainly think the show has potential beyond Sydney and Melbourne. We need the numbers to grow further in Melbourne before we’d be ready to make any decisions about going anywhere else. So, do I think the show is universally entertaining? Yes. Are we planning to take the show into other markets at this point? No.”
Lauren Joyce
It’s GOLDEN in Melbourne
In a more definitive win for ARN, GOLD104.3 has claimed the number one spot in Melbourne radio, ending 3AW’s longstanding dominance. The network pulled a 12.1% share, up from 11.6% in the previous book. Meanwhile, 3AW fell to 11.9%, marking its second straight drop.
Joyce credited the station’s rise to the consistency and precision of the team.
“We’re so, so pleased with the result and I’m just so proud of content director Sue Carter and the team down there,” she said. “They’ve worked really, really hard to get this result, and I think they’ve paid so much attention to detail, it’s been all the one percenters that have really added up.”
Joyce continued: “The GOLD network isn’t a flashy network. It’s a place people come to belong. Every minute of content on that station is well thought through. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as old-school radio, but I would just say it’s excellence in the attention to detail.”
Joyce believes the audience shift is also reflective of broader mood changes in the market.
“There is so much negative news in the world at the moment… I think audiences are fatigued by the negativity they’re consuming,” she said. “When they come to GOLD or KIIS, they do so because they want a reprieve. So yes, I do think it represents a shift in what audiences are looking for at this moment in time.”
GOLD Network content director Sue Carter
Sydney audience returns to KIIS
Meanwhile, in Sydney, Kyle & Jackie O have strengthened their grip on FM breakfast. Their share rose from 12.5% to 13.9%, extending their FM winning streak to 52 surveys in a row. In terms of reach, Joyce confirmed the show is pulling 1.15 million listeners just at breakfast. That expands to 1.7 million when you include the Hour of Power.
“Those 1.7 million people absolutely love them. They’re not casual listeners, they’re people who just can’t switch off from the show. They’re diehards, really.”
While Melbourne still presents challenges, Joyce said the team knows what they need to do. “Nova had a really great start to the year and shook the market up a little bit, but I think things have settled back down now, and Kyle and Jackie O’s strength continues to prove itself.”
Still committed to Jonesy and Amanda
Finally, Joyce addressed recent speculation surrounding GOLD101.7’s Jonesy and Amanda potentially leaving ARN for rival network Souther Cross Austereo’s (SCA) Triple M. As reported by Mediaweek, SCA has denied the move, and Joyce confirmed the veteran duo are in the final stages of negotiating a renewed contract with ARN.
“Yeah, we’re still very much committed to Jonesy and Amanda. I think today they had a relatively flat book, but they’re still delivering a really solid show every single day. So, our belief in them hasn’t wavered.”
A strong result with more to come
Joyce noted the Melbourne market still has room to grow, but the signs are promising.
“We’ve known for a while that the cume we have pulled into the station are sticking around. We’ve got a job to do on working hard against the rest of the cume. The station’s still delivering just under a million cume per week. So yeah, it’s not quite where we want it to be yet, but really pleased to see some growth there.”