Kyle and Jackie O record rating dip in Melbourne radio ratings amid Sydney success

It isn’t good news for Kyle and Jackie O in their much hyped push into the Melbourne radio market, while the duo have had a win in Sydney.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O have struggled on the Melbourne airwaves.

It isn’t good news for Kyle and Jackie O in their much hyped push into the Melbourne radio market, while the duo have had a win in Sydney.

The latest GfK ratings survey, the sixth of eight for the year, showed KIIS 101.1 dropped 0.9 of a percentage point to a share of 5.2 per cent.

That is a long way down from market leading breakfast talkback station 3AW at 22.5 per cent, a rise of 1.2 percentage points.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson launched into the Melbourne breakfast market in April, the move by KIIS parent company Australian Radio Network reportedly based on encouraging streaming numbers from that market and the potential of reducing costs.

Just months later, amid pressure from investors, ARN revealed in August that the network had budgeted millions of dollars to launch the show in Melbourne – a figure on top of the reported $200 million to be spent over 10 years on the show’s personalities.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O are huge in Sydney, so what’s going wrong in Melbourne?

Lauren Phillips and Jason Hawkins were the longstanding breakfast duo at KIIS Melbourne, who were poached by rival Nova and have triumphed on that dial in the latest survey as they registered a 9.6 per cent audience share (down 0.3).

Kyle and Jackie O have meanwhile been widely criticised in Melbourne for their ‘toilet humour’.

The Kyle and Jackie O Show launched in Melbourne in April. Photo: Supplied

The latest results will come as a blow to the show and investors, as well as ARN plans for further networking of the program to markets beyond Melbourne.

ARN boss Duncan Campbell has all year claimed Melbourne will be a slow burn.

“In Melbourne, we’ve always recognised that building success in a new market takes time,” Campbell said.

“The Kyle & Jackie O Show is Australia’s most successful radio show, attracting more than 1.5 million listeners each week, and has dominated Sydney with 46 consecutive surveys at number 1 FM. We remain confident in our long-term growth strategy.”

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Originally published as Kyle and Jackie O record rating dip in Melbourne radio ratings amid Sydney success