Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson may reign supreme in Sydney, but their Melbourne rollout remains a ratings slow burn.
The latest radio ratings survey shows KIIS 101.1’s Breakfast share slipping again, from 5.8% to 5.1%, marking another setback in Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) high-stakes expansion strategy.
Overall, KIIS 101.1 also dipped slightly to a 5.3% share (down from 5.7%), shedding 21,000 cumulative listeners in the process.
It’s a far cry from their dominant position in Sydney, where the duo continue to post double-digit results and shape national advertising narratives.
But ARN Chief Content Officer Duncan Campbell told Mediaweek he remains unfazed, framing the Melbourne numbers as part of a deliberately measured play.
Kyle & Jackie O in Melbourne: “It’s a slower road”
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that it’s a longer, slower road to success now for Kyle & Jackie O in Melbourne,” said Campbell. “But Kyle’s really tied up the show, and it’s sounding pretty good at the moment.”
Signed last year to a 10-year, $200 million deal with ARN, Sandilands and Henderson were not just locked in to secure breakfast radio dominance in Sydney, but to extend their appeal south of the border. That bet, so far, has yet to pay off in full.
Still, Campbell insists the network has no plans to pivot.
“With Kyle & Jackie O, the deal is still as it stands. There is no thought to pull or change at all.”
As for theories that the show had been tweaked too much for Melbourne listeners, Campbell pushed back.
“I don’t buy the fact that the show’s content was adjusted for Melbourne. It was adjusted for everyone, and they pulled the sexual content right back. The show we’re hearing now is the show Kyle & Jackie O have become famous for.
“If they can continue to deliver this sort of level of consistency, then we’ll slowly claw back those readings in Melbourne.
Christian O’Connell’s unexplained slip
Over at Gold 104.3, another ARN pillar saw movement in the latest survey, this time downwards. Christian O’Connell’s Breakfast share fell from 10.8% to 9.7%, while the station’s overall share also declined to 11.8% (from 12.5%). Cumulative listenership dropped significantly by 68,000.
Despite the softening, Campbell expressed confidence in the brand’s resilience.
“There’s no concern over the drop for Christian, but I really can’t explain it,” he admitted. “I do suspect, though, that it will correct itself as part of the natural survey ebbs and flows.”
Asked whether O’Connell’s show might eventually be networked nationally, Campbell didn’t rule it out.
“Christian has that sort of show that I think would work from a network perspective. But when that happens… I don’t know at this stage.”
Christian O’Connell
Sydney still leads ARN’s commercial story
In Sydney, ARN’s flagship KIIS 1065 posted another strong survey, retaining the #1 FM Breakfast spot with a 12.5% share for Kyle & Jackie O (up from 12.3%). The station’s overall share softened slightly to 9.3% (from 9.5%), but added 21,000 new listeners to its cumulative audience.
Campbell credits the consistency, but also the brand’s high-impact moments: “The show reached extremely high ratings probably around two years ago, at the time Otto [Sandilands’ son] was born. There was a lot of PR around his birth, and I think that gave the brand a boost.”
“I think it’s just settling back a little bit. That said, it’s still recorded a very good score of 12.5%, and it’s the only station on FM in double figures.”
He added: “Plus when it comes to FM Breakfast, we’ve got that #1 and #2 duopoly.”
The #2 he’s referring to? Jonesy and Amanda, who remain a commercial mainstay. Their Gold 101.7 Breakfast show held steady at 9.3% (from 9.2%), even as overall station share lifted to 8.7% (from 8.3%).
Campbell confirmed: “We’re currently in negotiations with Jonesy and Amanda to renew their contracts with the intention for them to stay.”
When quizzed on rumours the Breakfast pair would be shifting to Drive, allowing Christian O’Connell’s Melbourne-based Breakfast show to be networked into Sydney, Campbell was evasive.
“Look, Christian has that sort of show that I think would work from a network perspective,” he said.
“But when that happens… I don’t know at this stage.”
Meanwhile, Gold 101.7’s Sydney performance also marked a quiet vote of confidence for ARN’s networking strategy (one part of it, at least), which has seen on-air talent flow across capital cities.
“What I’m happy about in Sydney is Gold 101.7, because that was a rebrand, and we’re also doing the networking from Sydney into Melbourne and Melbourne into Sydney now,” Campbell said.
“In Sydney, we lost Phil O’Neil in Mornings, so we’ve got Melbourne’s Dave ‘Higgo’ Higgins there now, and then you’ve got Toni Tenaglia, also from Melbourne, doing Afternoons. So, given it’s still in rebrand territory, it’s a good result for Gold.”
Jonesy and Amanda
Leadership shifts, tighter resources, and the ARN rethink
Behind the scenes, ARN has undergone a period of reshaping, marked by leadership changes, redundancies, and shifting production responsibilities.
When asked how the exit of KIIS National Content Director Tony Aldridge and the refocus of DB (Derek Bargwanna) solely on Kyle & Jackie O had impacted networked breakfast shows, Campbell said the network is simply being smarter with its existing talent.
“Well, Ali Longhurst is overseeing breakfast in Brisbane, and Stephen Werner is the content director at Adelaide. So there are good people around the network,” he said.
“With DB, I mean, he’s always been involved with Kyle & Jackie O, even back from their days at 2Day FM. So he’s a key part of that support network that they have behind the scenes. What has happened, really, is that they’ve become more disciplined as a producing unit, supporting the content.
“Tony’s role was really more about the other network shows like The 3pm Pickup and Will and Woody.
“So, there are fewer people around these days. My philosophy, or my approach to that, is not to be reactionary, but to be proactive and say, ‘let’s make the most with what we’ve got’,” he said.
On recent layoffs, Campbell was blunt but pragmatic: “It’s a rough time, obviously, but, you know, with the economy the way it is, and revenues, these are business decisions which obviously affect people’s lives, but it’s just part of life. However, I think we should ensure that people leave with dignity and are looked after… It’s never easy, but it’s just the way it is.”
ARN chief executive Ciaran Davis, Jackie O, Kyle Sandilands, and ARN content director Duncan Campbell
Campbell exits stage left… sort of
After 15 years leading content at ARN, Campbell is preparing to hand over the reins, but not entirely disappearing.
“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to hold the role for so long. That’s the longest time anyone’s ever had that role,” he said.
“But, you know, as Neil Young says, ‘there comes a time.’ You can’t keep on doing it forever. Companies benefit from new ways of thinking and new ways of working. And look, I’m still there in a supportive consultancy capacity to LJ [Lauren Joyce], so it’s not goodbye. It’s just the end of this current role.”