Kyle and Jackie O cop ratings blow in Melbourne

The radio duo only just started broadcasting into Melbourne, but the city hasn’t exactly embraced them with a warm hug.

In March this year, Kyle Sandilands made the bold claim that his breakfast show with Jackie O would be number one in Melbourne before the end of the year.

But the latest round of radio ratings, released on Tuesday, indicate the pair will have an uphill battle to make that happen.

The Kyle and Jackie O Show recorded a 5.9 per cent audience share in the Melbourne radio ratings, meaning they’re the sixth highest rated FM breakfast show in town.

5.9 per cent is actually the same audience share KIIS 101.1 FM had when it was airing music in the breakfast timeslot before Kyle and Jackie O started broadcasting into Melbourne on April 29.

Despite the fact they didn’t manage to improve the station’s breakfast ratings, the show did see an increase in its cume (the number of people who tuned in to sample the station).

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O now broadcast into Melbourne and Sydney.

“They’ve had 50,000 new listeners trial the show which is a positive sign,” Craig Bruce, host of the Game Changers Radio: Melbourne Radio Wars podcast, told news.com.au.

“What the first couple of surveys have indicated is the Kyle and Jackie O trajectory in Melbourne will be much slower and more typical of a standard new breakfast show launch,” the former radio executive said.

Duncan Campbell, Chief Content Officer from ARN (the company that owns KIIS FM), was similarly positive about Kyle and Jackie O’s Melbourne ratings result.

“We know it will take a few more surveys before their presence truly starts to resonate with the Melbourne audience, but we’re excited to build on this foundation and are confident that Kyle and Jackie O will continue to capture the hearts of Melbourne listeners just as they have in Sydney,” he said.

Mr Bruce also expects Kyle and Jackie O’s ratings to improve in Melbourne throughout the year, but said it’s not going to be easy for them to topple Gold FM’s Christian O’Connell Show (number 1 FM breakfast show with a 10.8 per cent audience share) and Nova’s Jase and Lauren (9.6 per cent share).

Jase and Lauren were dropped by KIIS FM last year to make way for Kyle and Jackie O, and were quickly snapped up by Nova.

“The continued improvement of Nova’s Jase and Lauren will be a challenge for them,” the Game Changers podcast host said.

“They are now the most listened to breakfast show (cume) and momentum is on their side.”

Christian O’Connell.

Jase and Lauren.

Sydney ratings

It’s a different story for The Kyle and Jackie O Show in Sydney, where the pair continue to smash their FM opposition.

The KIIS FM hosts recorded a 14.1 per cent audience share in Tuesday’s ratings, miles ahead of their nearest FM rivals, WSFM’s Jonesy and Amanda, who have a 9.1 per cent share.

When taking the AM dial into account, 2GB’s Ben Fordham is number one overall with a 17.0 per cent audience share.

Going national?

There are rumours The Kyle and Jackie O Show will soon be broadcast into more cities than just Melbourne and Sydney.

Mr Bruce told news.com.au back in May, “the likelihood that Kyle and Jackie are Australia’s first national breakfast show by the start of 2025 is almost set in stone.”

“I can’t see a world where it won’t happen,” he added at the time.

Despite their sluggish start in Melbourne, Mr Bruce said he still expects that to be the case.

“ARN have had disappointing breakfast results in Brisbane and Adelaide today, so I think it’s very much still on the cards,” he told news.com.au.

Originally published as Kyle and Jackie O cop ratings blow in Melbourne