Kyle and Jackie O’s Melbourne launch delayed until after Easter

Kyle and Jackie O’s show may often be crass but insiders reckon it will be a national ratings winner as broadcaster KIIS goes all-in on the $200m duo amid radio industry turmoil.

Radio King and Queen Kyle and Jackie O have delayed their launch in Melbourne until after Easter as behind the scenes work continues on a Sydney super studio.

The $200 million pair have demanded a state of the art studio to syndicate their show across Australia.

Their assault on the Melbourne radio market, a key plank of their new 10-year deal, will not start for at least six weeks, insiders say.

Kyle and Jackie O take over KIIS FM’s breakfast show in Melbourne, threatening to steal a chunk of the Fox FM breakfast show hosted by Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody.

Fox FM has been on a marketing blitz ahead of Kyle and Jackie O’s arrival, highlighting their local credentials with outside broadcasts in Melbourne’s suburbs.

Plenty to celebrate … the radio pair have a 10-year deal worth up to $200m that will soon see them broadcast into Melbourne from their home base in Sydney.

Graham Mott, a former station manager at 3AW, said the Sydney pair will shake up Melbourne radio.

“If Fox is broadcasting from Brunswick but Kyle and Jackie O have Taylor Swift on the air, where is the audience going to go?” he said.

“Kyle and Jackie O have a track record of getting the stars.”

Kyle and Jackie O have been one of only three radio teams that have caused the rise and fall of a station.

They saved Mix FM, which was rebranded KIIS FM, when they switched from Southern Cross Austereo owned 2DayFM and Fox FM in 2013.

Firebrand broadcaster Alan Jones and golden voice John Laws also took significant audience share with them when they swapped stations.

Jackie greets Kyle at her birthday party last month.

The push into Melbourne comes as KIIS FM’s owner, ARN, attempts to take over Southern Cross Austereo – a move that would bring Kyle & Jackie O under the same roof as rock station Triple M.

As part of the $330m takeover, which is backed by US private equity group Anchorage Capital Partners, the Hit network, which broadcasts as Fox in Melbourne and 2Day in Sydney, would be spun out into a separate company.

A radio industry source, who was not able to speak publicly, said Kyle and Jackie O would hit the mark in Melbourne.

“What people think about Kyle and Jackie O isn’t the reality. People think all they talk about is vaginas and bottoms but there’s a lot more to the show,” the source said.

“Kyle is going to say things on air and if you don’t like you’ll have to deal with it. That will resonate with a lot of people in Melbourne.”

Kyle, 52, and Jackie O, 49, replace former KIIS hosts Lauren Phillips and Jason Hawkins, who have now moved across to Nova.

The Sydney duo only need to claw back less than 2 per cent from rivals on Fox and Gold FM to become Melbourne’s top rating breakfast show.