Can Kyle and Jackie O take Melbourne? Landmark 10-year deal launches hot new rivalry

They own Sydney and as of today, also own the most lucrative contract deal in Australian radio history, but will Kyle and Jackie O resonate where others have failed and dominate two cities?

They own Sydney and as of today, also own the most lucrative contract deal in Australian radio history, but will Kyle and Jackie O resonate where others have failed?

Amid revelation of their massive ten-year-deal came news the power duo’s radio show will beam into Melbourne from 2024.

ARN will reportedly spend $2 or $3 million a year for the next few years to ease Kyle and Jackie O’s path into the Melbourne breakfast radio market, but can they rule Melbourne like they have Sydney?

The fact that the pair have slowly grown a national profile on television after several false starts means they have a national presence which will boost their stocks, some Melbourne insiders say.

After many years trying for a TV show cut-through, and some ordinary ratings results in the past, Sandilands and Jackie O have now gained solid national exposure via Australian Idol and The Masked Singer respectively.

Kyle Sandilands signed on to be an Australian Idol judge in 2022, and has recently filmed the second season of the rebooted Channel 7 series. Photo: Jeff Darmain.

Jackie O left The Masked Singer in 2022.

That, and the fact that in the past their early evening highlights show (Hour of Power) has beamed into Melbourne, will help the recognition factor, but they’ll need to be wary about reminding Melbourne listeners where their show is broadcasting from, and where their allegiances lie.

“That shouldn’t be a major problem - while the show is based in Sydney, Kyle proved years ago from spending lengthy amounts of time working from LA that distance wasn’t an insurmountable hurdle,” said one industry figure.

“But if they start taking potshots at Melbourne, the city won’t embrace them.

“Don’t bag Melbourne, and don’t remind listeners you’re not in Melbourne.”

KIIS FM breakfast hosts Jackie "O" Henderson and Kyle Sandilands who were crowned best on-air team (FM) at the 33rd annual Australian Commercial Radio Awards (the ACRAs) in 2022. Picture: Supplied.

WHAT MELBOURNE RIVALS HAVE TO SAY

Brendan Fevola says he’s not worried that Kyle and Jackie O will broadcast into the Melbourne breakfast market in 2024.

“I do have good sources. It doesn’t affect us, we’re fine,” he told the Herald Sun.
“We’ve got the most listeners in Melbourne so I don’t feel that’s going to affect us at all.”

Brendan Fevola, Fifi Box and Nick Cody, the FOX FM breakfast team. Picture: Supplied/Fox FM.

Sandilands has already promised he won’t be talking about sport or AFL.

“If we do broadcast in Melbourne you’ll never hear shit about AFL, because we don’t do sport. We don’t care about sport,” he said in August.

Fevola said he felt for the former KIIS FM hosts Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips, who were dumped today from their slot to make way for the Kyle and Jackie O juggernaut.

“We’re very fortunate that we get to bring a show to Melbourne, we are Melbourne,” he said.

Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips . Picture: David Caird

“It’s upsetting for the guys at KIIS, Lauren and Jase and Clint. They are Melbourne and they broadcast to their listeners in Melbourne and for a Sydney show to come in and broadcast from Sydney, I don’t think that’s fair on their listeners.”

Jackie O attends the 63rd TV WEEK Logie Awards at The Star in Sydney in July. Photo: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The experience of stars in both TV and radio trying to take their profile across the two cities shows there are hurdles ahead for Sydney’s ‘Brekkie King’.

No less than Eddie McGuire showed the proof in that pudding years ago, when he was appointed as Nine CEO in 2005, relocating to Sydney from Melbourne.

McGuire remains a power player and much-loved figure in Melbourne, just as he was then, but Sydney wasn’t having a bar of ‘Eddie Everywhere’.

They were happy for him to pop up on their TVs as talent, but not as CEO in Sydney. After just 17 tumultuous months, he stepped down.

Other names who have struggled to resonate in both cities are Rove McManus, a darling of TV and radio in Melbourne, who struggled to find similar popularity in Sydney.

Viewers loved Daryl Somers almost universally in his Hey Hey It’s Saturday heyday, but in other roles he left all but Melbournites cold.

Sydney wasn’t having a bar of Eddie McGuire. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Similarly, Grant Denyer was popular in Sydney, but less so in Melbourne.

Dave Hughes lights up TV and radio in Melbourne. In Sydney, not so much. Mick Molloy is big in radio in Melbourne, but has always found Sydney tough going.

The radio market in Melbourne is significantly different to the Sydney landscape in terms of ratings. While Kyle and Jackie O and Ben Fordham 2GB have spent this year exchanging the lead in the ratings in each survey, in Melbourne, AM station 3AW leads the field by the length of the straight.

Switch the dial to FM, and the field is a lot tighter, and some believe, there for the taking.

KIIS FM’s breakfast show focuses on pop culture and celebrity and may provide a welcome break from AFL commentary in footy-mad Melbourne.

Radio expert Colin Vickery says it will be a big test for FM radio.

“Traditionally Sydney identities don’t work in Melbourne and vice versa and it’ll be interesting to see how much they’ll have to change up their show,’’ he said.

“We tend to be very local in what we want to listen to. They are savvy operators though and the opposition should be wary as they could be more of a disrupter than if they were taking on 3AW. Maybe Kyle won’t want to pretend to care or know about something that he doesn’t, regarding sport.”