A big day of radio news
Kyle Sandilands needs brain surgery; Kate Ritchie steps back; Phil Brady retires — plus, is “consolidation” of Australian radio networks inevitable?
It’s been a big day of Australian radio news, much of it relevant to Brisbane.
First up, Brisbane’s own Kyle Sandilands has announced he has a brain aneurism and will soon need surgery.
Cue some nasty and very predictable comments about Sandilands on social media.
I know he rubs people the wrong way, his show is unnecessarily crude, and he’s said some terrible things about other people over the years, but I think we can be better than that.
You can dislike what he does on the radio — and I’m among those who think he should clean up his act at a time when kids are listening — but still acknowledge that he’s a human being who is unwell. I wish him a full recovery.
My thoughts, too, are with Kate Ritchie of Nova 96.9 in Sydney who is taking a break to look after her physical and mental health. I recommend you seek out her Instagram post which calls out paparazzi who have been pestering her.
There’s also news about Philip Brady, who used to spend a lot of time in Brisbane when he was hosting Casino 10 in the 1970s.
I may be wrong about this, but in the deep recesses of my mind I remember a newspaper story about how he caught a train out to Ferny Grove to kill time between show recordings. Because of his youthful looks, the then 30-something Brady was mistaken for a student wagging school. Apparently.
Well, time flies and he’s now 85 and has hung up his microphone after a long stint at 3AW in Melbourne. I wish him all the best in his retirement.
Meanwhile, KIIS 97.3 promised “a huge announcement” this morning, which turned out not to be a line-up change, as at least one observer thought would be the case, but a publicity stunt/competition where the trio of hosts — Robin Bailey, Kip Wightman and Corey Oates — will hide somewhere in the city and the listeners have to try to find them. (Seems a bit risky to me.)
It’s a popular radio stunt most recently performed in Melbourne by Nova’s Jase Hawkins (once “Labrat” on Brisbane’s B105) and Lauren Philips.
Yes, we are in the middle of the all-important first radio ratings period of the year. Will it succeed? We’ll know on March 27.
Will ARN buy Nine Radio?
People in commercial media circles have been talking about “consolidation” for many years.
By that, they mean takeovers and mergers that will reduce the number of media owners and, many argue, lead to further job losses and limit the number and diversity of listening options.
The term has hit the headline again with Hamish McLennan, the chairman of ARN Media, which owns the KIIS and Gold radio networks, suggesting he’s like to buy Nine Radio’s assets, which include talk stations 2GB, 3AW, 6PR and Brisbane’s 4BC.
In an interview on Radio Nationals’ Media Land program, hosted by Tim Burrowes and Vivienne Kelly, McLennan noted that the radio business was a very small part of Nine Entertainment and that those stations would receive “the attention they deserve” under ARN.
Quizzed about regulatory hurdles — the current law allows a company to own only two licences in each market — McLennan argued that the media landscape is more competitive than ever due to the presence of overseas tech giants such as Spotify, Google, Facebook and Netflix.
He said the media laws are outdated and that consolidation is inevitable and necessary due to ongoing cost pressures in the sector. He said if ARN were to own the Nine Radio stations, it would enable them to attain scale, share resources and run the businesses profitably.
McLennan was also asked about the KIIS network’s Kyle and Jackie O Show, which has been the subject of much discussion over its content. While highly successful in Sydney, the show has performed badly in the Melbourne market.*
McLennan acknowledged that the show has faced difficulties and that Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson “might have pushed the envelope too hard”.
But he also defended the show, saying we “live in a free speech world” and that listeners can choose to turn if off if they didn’t like it. He also noted that some content on the internet, which is not subject to the same legal restrictions, was “terrible”.
Sandilands’ illness means he could be off the air for two months, so maybe that will give ARN the chance to reset the show. Or not.
*Sandilands struck back at the Melburnians today, saying they might get their wish if he dies during his operation.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz used to work in radio, was a guest on ABC Brisbane over the weekend, and his media dance card currently has vacancies.