The radio star tipped to beat Kyle and Jackie O

One of Australia’s most successful radio hosts has revealed who he thinks will beat Kyle and Jackie O in Melbourne.

It’s the question on everyone’s lips: Who will win Melbourne’s fierce radio war?

After months of build-up, Kyle and Jackie O finally launched their hugely successful breakfast show on Melbourne radio this week.

Kyle has predicted their show will be the number one FM breakfast show in Melbourne by the end of the year, but the Sydney-based pair have got their work cut out for them.

To get to number one, they’ll have to beat Fox FM’s Fifi, Fev and Nick which is currently the top rated FM breakfast show in town.

They’ll also have to out-rate the city’s other two big breakfast shows, Gold FM’s The Christian O’Connell Show (rated no 2), and Nova’s Jase and Lauren (rated no 3).

Fifi, Fev and Nick. Picture: Fox FM/Supplied

Rosso has predicted who’ll win the ratings war. Picture: ABC

So who will be on top at the end of the year?

Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross, one of Australia’s most successful broadcasters, has shared his opinion on the podcast, Game Changers Radio: Melbourne Radio Wars.

He’s predicted Kyle and Jackie O will rate well, but not as well as one of the other breakfast shows.

“The only one who shouldn’t be worrying is Christian (O’Connell),” Rosso said.

“He’s so good. He knows every trick and he does them all so well.

“As the radio audiences get older and older, they’re just going to continue to gravitate towards him.”

O’Connell was a huge radio star in the UK before he emigrated to Melbourne in 2018 to host The Christian O’Connell Show on Gold 104.3, alongside Jack Post and Patrina Jones.

It didn’t take long for listeners to warm to the Brit, and within 18 months his show was number one.

It’s since slipped to number two, but several industry experts expect him to regain the top position within months.

The Christian O'Connell Show: Jack Post, Christian O'Connell and Patrina Jones.

“The Christian O’Connell Show will be number one by the end of the year,” Irene Hulme, the co-host of the Melbourne Radio Wars podcast, told news.com.au.

“Christian has a devoted audience who spend a lot of time listening to his show and I expect that loyalty will continue.

“He’s a captivating storyteller, incredibly funny, innovative and has a genuine affection for his listeners.

“You can hear that he approaches every show as though it’s a privilege to be behind the mic and it’s an even greater privilege doing it for Melbourne,” Ms Hulme said.

The station that O’Connell broadcasts on, Gold FM, is owned by ARN, the same company that owns KIIS FM which Kyle and Jackie O can be heard on.

Earlier this week, O’Connell poked fun at the amount of money the company had spent on promoting Kyle and Jackie O’s arrival in Melbourne.

“We’ve been told there’s no money for a marketing campaign for this show, it’s all going to Kyle and Jackie O,” he said on air.

O’Connell decided to launch his own publicity campaign called ‘Bin Boards’, encouraging his listeners to post promotional stickers about his show on their rubbish bins.

“The only blank space I can get hold of right now in this city is your bins,” he said.

“Will you give us your bins and join ‘Operation Bin Board?”

Hundreds of listeners have since called into the show offering up space on their bins.

Listeners are doing their bit to help Christian. Picture: Instagram

It’s not a rubbish idea. Picture: Instagram

Several other high-profile media people have also had a crack at predicting who will win Melbourne’s radio war.

Steve Price said on The Project that Kyle and Jackie O “will be a massive failure in Melbourne”.

Meshel Laurie, a former radio star who now co-host’s the Can We Be Real? podcast, was far more positive.

“Melbourne has never heard a radio show like Kyle and Jackie O, and I think they will be number one by October,” she wrote on Instagram.

“I believe Melbourne listeners will appreciate Kyle and Jackie O’s straightforward style.

“They cut through the usual radio fluff, offering genuine entertainment instead of the sanitised, corporate-filtered ‘HR department’ content that can drive anyone to boredom,” Laurie wrote.

Originally published as The radio star tipped to beat Kyle and Jackie O