By Calum Jaspan
Warning: this story contains strong language of an explicit sexual nature.
Australia’s highest-paid media stars, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson, have been found to have breached decency standards for radio by the media watchdog as it continues to investigate systemic issues with the program.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) published the findings of two investigations into the duo, who host a breakfast show on the radio network KIIS FM in Sydney and Melbourne, on Friday morning. The investigations related to two segments that aired in June.
The Kyle and Jackie O show has been found to have breached decency standards again.
The segments were deliberately offensive, would be considered offensive by any reasonable person listening, and weren’t in line with broader community standards, ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said in a media statement.
“This content went beyond the bounds of decency expected by the community and was done so deliberately and provocatively,” O’Loughlin said.
“Even having two program censors employed by the broadcaster in place following previous ACMA enforcement action, this has not stopped occurrences of unsuitable content going to air.”
While it ruled the show was in breach of Code 2.2, which relates to decency standards, ACMA said it will consider its enforcement options after two additional investigations it launched in February into issues relating to decency and complaints handling by the show and network conclude.
Friday’s decision relates to two segments aired on June 7 last year, the first of which heard the show’s hosts, as well as their producer “Pedro”, discuss a rumour about Henderson having a sexual encounter with a woman, ACMA said.
The second related to a competition the show ran, “Tradie vs Lady”, where the complainant also alleged there had been no response to the complaint she made to the Melbourne licensee, KIIS 101.1.
The complainant made the complaint after hearing the show mention the phrases “sucking cock”, “licking vagina” and “eating each other out” while they were listening to The Kyle and Jackie O Show in their car just after the show began at 6am.
In its response to ACMA, KIIS said it believed it did not breach decency standards, with its core audience being made up of a “broad-minded adult demographic”, used to robust, uninhibited, real-life comedic discussions, which include “sexual references and descriptions of sexual activities”.
Sandilands and Henderson’s content has been under the spotlight for the better part of a year, following the show’s launch into Melbourne in April last year, part of a landmark 10-year contract with KIIS owner ARN, which nets the pair $10 million each annually.
Yet their content has not resonated with Melburnians, who have tuned out of the station, delivering poor ratings in their surveys to date. They continue to perform well in their native Sydney.
The show rated last against key commercial rivals in the most recent ratings survey published on Thursday, with a 5.1 per cent share, despite a major marketing campaign based around the pair now “behaving” after a directive from the station’s management to remove smut from the show.
During the “Tradie vs Lady” segment, two contestants were introduced, and information was provided to the audience about them by the hosts, including their names, age, weight, favourite sexual position and an anecdote about past sexual experience.
Some of these discussions were of a “graphic sexual nature”, ACMA said.
“The ACMA acknowledges that each of the segments was presented in a lighthearted manner, and the overall tone was mild. However, the ACMA does not consider that the tone of the segments sufficiently diminished the impact of the language and explicit sexual themes that were broadcast.”
KIIS employs a censor on the show to ensure it complies with broadcasting codes. The station agreed to do this in 2023 after the show was deemed to have breached decency standards again over comments made in a segment about the Paralympics, which included Sandilands referring to the Games as the “Special Olympics”.
Staff on the show also agreed to undertake sensitivity training, but ACMA said it does not appear that the active censors “have proactively considered the potential risks of discussing matters of a sexual nature with the contestants”.
ACMA found the show had not breached a separate Code, 2.4, which rules against having explicit sexual themes as the “core component” of a program. It said there were numerous other non-sexual segments during the four-hour show.
Under ACMA’s powers, it can agree to response measures for a breach of the code before taking enforceable actions, such as additional licence conditions. However, its powers are limited, and it cannot issue civil penalties or fines.
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