Jase & Lauren in showdown with bitter rivals Kyle & Jackie O in radio awards shock

Melbourne’s radio underdogs Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips are set for a showdown against their on-air nemesis Kyle Sandilands for the nation’s top radio industry prize.

Melbourne’s radio underdogs Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips will battle their on-air nemesis Kyle Sandilands for the Australia radio industry’s top prize.

Hawkins and Phillips will face off against Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson for the title of

Best On Air Team in the Australian Commercial Radio and Audio Awards. The awards will be held in Sydney in October.

The showdown between the two teams is juicy, given that Hawkins and Phillips were unceremoniously dumped from the KIIS Melbourne breakfast shift in December 2023 to make way for Sandilands’ move in the Melbourne market.

Hawkins and Phillips were then quickly snapped up by rival station Nova and the gamble has so far paid off.

Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips are in a showdown with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson.

The Jase & Lauren Show rated 9.6 compared to Kyle & Jackie O’s 5.9 in the most recent radio survey.

Sandilands still believes the Kyle & Jackie O Show will prove media “idiots” and “a--eholes” -wrong and be a success in Melbourne by the end of the year.

“There is no clear winner ever in Melbourne,” he said of the ratings last week on his show.

“Christian O’Connell on the Gold station does really well, Fifi and the other goons (Fox FM), they are all right, then there is Jase and what’s her name (Jase & Lauren on Nova).

“They are all soft c--- radio.”

Kyle Sandilands still believes the Kyle & Jackie O Show will prove media ‘idiots’. Picture: Instagram

Also nominated in the prestigious Best On Air Team category at the ACRA’s are Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller (Jonesy & Amanda), The Christian O’Connell Show, Carrie & Tommy (Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little) and Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie (Michael Wipfli, Ryan Fitzgerald and Kate Ritchie).

Melbourne’s Christian O’Connell (GOLD104.3) and Fifi Box (FOX FM) have landed nominations in the Individual Talent of the Year Award.

And while it has been a long time since media powerhouse Neil Mitchell has been called new talent, the doyen of talkback hosts in Melbourne has picked up a nomination in the Best New Talent category for podcasts with his Neil Mitchell Asks Why? Offering.

Despite handing over the 3AW Morning shift to Tom Elliott this year, Mitchell has been nominated as Best Current Affairs Presenter and Best Talk Presenter. He is competing against Elliott in the Talk Presenter category.