Radio news update: Radion network ARN has terminated Kyle Sandilands’ $100 million contract, and he has issued a statement, saying in part:
“ARN has just announced that they’ve terminated my contract. I don’t accept it. My lawyers told them last week this would be invalid. And guess what? It is…
“I’ve got a contract until 2034. I’ve got rights under that contract. And ARN hasn’t honoured the contract. So, it’s over to my lawyers.
“To the people who tune in every morning — you lot are the reason I’ve done this for 25 years. You didn’t get a say in this. Neither did I. But my lawyers will.
“I’m not done. Not by a long way.”
Given ARN announced last week that it had terminated Jackie Henderson’s contract, this officially ends the long-running Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Let the battle begin, and the lawyers get rich!
Footnote: ARN’s share price will be interesting to watch. Some of the reporting over the past few days has suggested Sandilands might buy ARN, which owns his now former station KIIS. One problem with that is that if he did so and reinstated the Kyle and Jackie O Show, he would be liable to five years of sanctions from the ACMA, which I don’t think will be the case if he turns up on air elsewhere (or on a podcast, which would seem to be the “safest” place for his brand of audio).
Mumbrella has some good coverage of this unfolding story here.
Ratings preview
They’ve been a long time coming, but the results of the first radio survey for 2026 are about to land on Thursday morning, March 19.
Here’s what I’ll be looking out for:
How will the subtraction of Ash Bradnam (who didn’t want to go) and Nikki Osborne (who did), and the addition of Nick Allen-Ducat and Susie O’Neill affect the numbers at Nova 106.9. O’Neill is well-known to Nova audiences and has done the Breakfast gig before, but any change can lead to sampling.
Whether the decision to reinstate Robin Bailey, Kip Wightman and Corey Oates will pay a dividend for KIIS 97.3.
Whether the steady as she goes, no changes to see here, approach at B105 and Triple M will quietly pay off.
He’s only on DAB+ and online in Brisbane, but a lot of people will be wanting to know how Christian O’Connell is fairing only the newly national GOLD network. Some pundits reckon he will turn up on the FM dial in Brisbane if the numbers look good.
On the AM dial, both 612 ABC Brisbane (or whatever it’s called this week) and 4BC will be looking to boost numbers for their news-talk offerings. The ABC has gone into the new year with the same voices, but 4BC has seen a lot of change.
The new line-up — Dean Miller and Sofie Formica in Breakfast, Jason Matthews in Mornings and Carla Bignasca in Afternoons — are just settling in behind the microphones at their recently refurbished studios. And they, along with Drive host Gary Hardgrave, are all well aware that the station’s new owners are about to be formally handed the keys.
What the Laundy family has planned — at last report, they haven’t yet even settled on a name for the group currently known as Nine Radio (although one of them has been chatting to Kyle Sandilands) — remains to be seen.
They’ve suggested they won’t be making dramatic changes, but an especially good or bad ratings result at any of their stations will undoubtedly steer their future thinking.
As far as 4BC is concerned, the no. 1 business question is: Is it sustainable to maintain a full daytime “live and local” line-up, when the music stations have been networking, or voice-tracking, most shifts for decades now?
Yes, talk radio is different, but the financial case has to be strong. I don’t think the Laundys plan on running a charity.
The big challenge, of course, for all stations is to listen to the market and decide what Brisbane audiences want to hear, not automatically mimic what’s working in Sydney or Melbourne.
Given recent events interstate, radio programmers will also need to be looking at the viability of some of their older shows and have a strong Plan B in place.
Cruise out of control
It’s no secret I like to go on cruises, and that I usually sail solo. But I won’t be doing it at these prices.
Here’s the results from a recent search for a Celebrity cruise — same cabin class, same cruise, price per person for a twin share and solo:
How can this be justified?
Mister Brisbane is free to read but you if you really like it, you
can buy me a coffee or take out a paid subscription.
P.S.
So, the theatre-loving public of Brisbane were told they would have a say in the naming of the venue now known as the Glasshouse. But even before the question was posed in an online poll, the decision had already been made — and one name proposed by the experts, that of celebrated poet Oodgeroo, wasn’t even put to the people.
So, this is how politics works in Queensland now … It all seems sadly familiar to this old bloke. Transparency? Accountability? Don’t you worry about that.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz has been heard on most Brisbane radio stations over his long, long life and, like many hundreds of others, once worked for 4BC.