A big deal in radio
What does Kyle and Jackie's contract mean for Brisbane? Are other changes brewing?
Update: In this post I mentioned more Brisbane changes to come. Today, 26 November 2023, Spencer Howson has announced he will be leaving 4BC Weekends in a couple of weeks, after three years with the station.
Broadcast radio celebrated its 100th birthday in Australia over the past week, with some people partying a little more than others.
The biggest news was the huge contract signed by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson that’s worth $200 million and will keep them employed by the Australian Radio Network (ARN) for the next 11 years.
It will also mean their KIIS Sydney breakfast show will be broadcast in Melbourne next year, displacing the local show helmed by Jase Hawkins (who was formerly known as Labrat and used to co-host breakfast on Brisbane’s B105) and Lauren Phillips.
(This will come as no shock to Mister Brisbane subscribers who read this item and this item a few weeks ago.)
Significantly, in announcing the move, ARN CEO Ciarin Davis, said: “For some time now, we’ve recognised the potential of the Kyle & Jackie O Show to broadcast beyond Sydney during breakfast.”
Which, of course, opens the door for the show to be heard elsewhere, including on Brisbane’s KIIS 97.3, where Robin Bailey and Kip Wightman currently hold down the brekkie shift.
National, or partially national, breakfast shows have been tried before and have largely been unsuccessful. Anybody who has spent time in Sydney and Melbourne will know that their citizens are different in their tastes and attitudes.
One of the biggest challenges for Kyle and Jackie will be to satisfy Melburnians’ almost-insatiable hunger for AFL news and chat. No doubt, the boffins at ARN are aware of this and working on ways to make sure that happens.
Fulfilling the football needs of a Brisbane audience would be somewhat easier for a duo based in Sydney, where the NRL reigns supreme. Even if they are trashing our teams, at least they will be talking the same language.
Meanwhile, as the year quickly draws to a close, don’t be surprised if there are announcements of line-up changes at other Brisbane stations, including but not only the ABC, very soon. Some people will be moving on by choice. Others, not so much.
Also, it seems ARN is very keen to get a move on with its takeover of SCA. If it goes through, it will see a big realignment of network groupings, bringing the Triple M brand under the ARN banner, with the Gold and Hit brands (B105, Fox, 2Day and others) owned by a separate entity known as ACP.
There may be a few surprises as to how that actually pans out. One big question relates to talent and whether some talent and other staff will be changing frequencies to keep them under the ARN banner, or whether they will remain tied to their current stations.
Since I last wrote about this, Seven West Media has confirmed that it owns a big chunk of ARN — something that is expected to bolster the bid rather than hinder it.
The whole thing has to get government approval but since just about every other major media merger over the past 50 years has been waved through, it would be a shock (to me at least) if it gets knocked back.
One thing the politicians might want to look into is the further reduction of local radio services in regional areas, which has well and truly begun. In many parts of Australia, listeners are lucky to hear a local voice or hear about things that matter to them.