Brisbane media shake-up looms
Is the Kyle and Jackie O move back on, simply because it’s the least bad option? And will 4BC and Brisbane Times have new owners soon?
I’ve been suffering from the flu (or similar) all week, so I’m writing this with a fuzzy head and a few days later than I would’ve liked.
Excuses aside, here’s another dive into potential movements that may have a big impact on the Brisbane media landscape.
First up, let’s address the ongoing question of whether the KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O Show will go national. Well, it depends on who you listen to.
Unmade.Media’s Tim Burrowes has crunched the data and notes that the duo’s combined Sydney and Melbourne average audience is actually lower than their Sydney-only audience was a couple of years ago.
Does that sound like bad news?
Yes, it does. However, Burrowes recommends that KIIS owner ARN Media expands the show to Brisbane and beyond, basically on the grounds that having national reach with the one Breakfast program would give the network a “story” (to advertisers) that sets it apart from competitors Nova (which has the no. 1 show in four out of the five major markets) and SCA (which “owns” the 25-54 demographic).
He also notes that (as just about everybody acknowledges) the duo read the room badly when they debuted in Melbourne and suggests they “improve” the show, saying:
Even a full year in, it’s not possible to argue that the national strategy is the wrong one - only that Sandilands and Henderson bungled the execution by producing a show that is off its best.
If the decision-makers are ARN are thinking the same way, we may expect to hear the Kyle and Jackie O Show in Brisbane soon.
But maybe not. In his Radioland email, futurologist James Cridland writes about last week’s ratings:
Kyle and Jackie O, the radio story for the last year, saw another market share drop [in Melbourne] of 0.7%, and are now at just 5.1%. To my reading, Kyle and Jackie O is now the poorest-performing breakfast show on FM in Melbourne (well, only beaten by ABC Classic, a station that shouldn’t be on FM). I wonder how much longer ARN can afford to keep them on-air in the city? (It’s not an issue of networking. It’s an issue of a poor product.)
So, I guess the question is: does ARN go for broke on their expensive talent — who, as I and others have pointed out before, have kept their jobs while dozens of their colleagues have been sacked — or go into a full retreat?
Update: Here’s what Sandilands himself had to say to advertisers and agencies.
Still the one?
Also on his blog, Burrowes suggests that the restructure at Nine Entertainment points to the sale of the former Fairfax newspapers (The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and online-only Brisbane Times) and the Nine Radio assets, which include 4BC in Brisbane, along with 2GB, 3AW and 6PR, and some music stations including 4BH (which is leased to ACE Radio and doing quite nicely in the ratings).
Other sources, including The Australian, say Nine is talking to three interested parties, with the price being the sticking point.
Burrowes adds, “If Nine still owns its publishing or radio divisions in two years’ time, I’ll be surprised.”
What will be the upshot for Brisbane audiences if those sales go ahead? Well, it depends how deep the new owners’ pockets are and how committed they are to the Brisbane market.
We could see fresh investment and stronger local voices, or further demotion to minor branch office status and a return to a purely networked product.
Stay tuned.
P.S. It’s your last chance to hear my friend and former colleague Spencer Howson on the 612 ABC Brisbane Saturday Breakfast show, from 5-10am on June 28. I have a feeling it’s not the last we’ll hear of him.
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at The Wrinkle and Radio Bert, you can buy me a coffee.
Disclosure: Brett Debritz once worked for Nine Radio.