Jackie ‘O’ Henderson wades into Melbourne radio war discourse

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has waded into bubbling radio war discourse with Melbourne rivals, as she and Kyle Sandilands get set to “shake things up”.

Australia’s leading radio stars are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and Kyle Sandilands to Melbourne airwaves, as talk of a bubbling radio war heats up.

Henderson and Sandilands’ Number 1 KIIS FM show was set to make its hotly-anticipated debut in the Victorian city alongside rival headline hosts this week, but it was delayed at the last minute.

When they do finally premiere their Sydney-based program in the new market, the king and queen of radio will go up against popular Fox FM breakfast show, Fifi, Fev & Nick, with co-host Fifi Box declaring “game on” in a recent interview with Herald Sun.

But Henderson – who promised their Melbourne takeover would come “soon” – wouldn’t be dragged into competitive discourse.

“All we can do is just the show we do,” Henderson told the publication in response.

KIIS FM radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson are set to hit airwaves in Melbourne “soon”.

She continued, “It’s not the end of the world, we’re only having fun and it’s pure and simple, and hopefully people listening like to have a bit of fun on the way to work.

“It will be something different for Melbourne breakfast and that’s the appeal in a way, it’s going to shake things up and that’s always a good thing I think.

“Kyle is really excited. The girls never fight, it’s the boys that are b****es. Girls don’t care about that. I’ve got girlfriends at all the networks.”

Henderson did, however, talk to the time she and Sandilands broadcasted 2Day FM’s Hot30 in the early 2000s, saying the pair “superseded everyone else’s figures” in the Melbourne ratings.

“I’m excited actually. We used to broadcast to Melbourne years ago and when Kyle and I did the Hot30 for a national show all those years ago, Melbourne was always our biggest audience out of every city in Australia,” she said.

“That by far and away superseded everybody else’s figures so I’ve always had this kind of special love for the Melbourne audience for that reason. Because they were always really loyal back in the day.

“So it’s good to come back on air so many years later, it’s also a challenge and I like that.”

Jackie has been in Melbourne this week to attend the Australian Open. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Henderson and Sandilands expanding their show to Melbourne came as part of a staggering new 10-year, $200 million contract with their existing station Australian Radio Network (ARN), which they officially signed on-air in November. It will see the duo earn a minimum of $10 million annually, each.

It meant KIIS Melbourne hosts Jason Hawkins and Lauren Phillips were brutally ousted from their gig.

Since then, there’s been running debate over whether Henderson and Sandilands are a “good fit” for the city of Melbourne.

The Project panellist Steve Price criticised Sandilands on the Ten program in November, dubbing him a “grubby buffoon” who “wouldn’t work” among the local audiences.

Brendan Fevola, Fifi Box and Nick Cody host Fox FM’s breakfast show for SCA in Melbourne.

Sandilands and Henderson insisted their show be broadcast outside of Sydney when they began negotiations with ARN in early 2023, with rival network Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) also gunning for their signatures.

Sandilands has long been transparent about his desire to tap into the Melbourne radio market, with Brendan Fevola dropping on-air in August he’d heard a rumour the shock jock was set to make it happen from 2024.

The co-host of Fifi, Fev & Nick – which is owned by SCA – immediately made his feelings about it known.

“That’s not the right DNA,” the former AFL star said. “That’s a Sydney show. Surely they’re not coming to Melbourne … What the hell?”