The decision by the Australian Radio Network (ARN) to sign broadcasters Kyle & Jackie O on a 10-year deal reportedly worth $200 million has, arguably, become one of the most contested media deals in history.
The deal, which officially kicks in this year and will last until the end of 2034, forced the company to engage in a range of cost-saving measures to free up revenue.
In December last year, Calum Jaspan wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald the deal played a role in the decision to make up to 50 staff, from a range of departments, redundant. Other factors included the company’s failed takeover of rival Southern Cross Austero and a weak ad market.
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and Kyle Sandilands.
The decision to network the show – which has always performed strongly in Sydney – into Melbourne has now come under even greater scrutiny, after the duo failed to solidify a strong Victorian audience, commanding just a 5% share at the end of 2024.
In a revealing interview with ABC Radio National’s MediaLand ARN media chairman Hamish McLennan admitted that given “the media landscape is more competitive than ever” the business wants to stay “committed to being live and local.”
When pressed on whether networking the Sydney-based show into Melbourne aligned with his ‘live and local’ commitment, McLennan was quick to detail the amount of Melbourne staff helping to bring the show to life.
“We have local news, we employ people right across all of our networks in those markets,” he said.
The Kyle & Jackie O show.
McLennan also went on to expound the financial benefit networking can bring to a company’s bottom line. “Don’t forget, there are a whole lot of administrative staff and salespeople that service each of those markets. So we’re proudly Australian, and we want to continue in that regard,” he explained before adding: “we’ve made a huge financial commitment to Kyle and Jackie O … and we need to get payback for that”.
McLennan also tackled the issue of the pairs failure to launch with surprising honesty.
“I think in some regard, the guys pushed the envelope too hard,” he said. “I lived in Melbourne, you know? I think it is a distinct market, and so we haven’t got the content platform right.”
But he was quick to defend the pair saying that “at the end of the day Kyle and Jackie O are performers”.
“Some of that stuff I wince at too, and we’ve had those conversations with Kyle, and we’re fully aware of our obligations with the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) and we take that very, very seriously. We have censors who sit and listen to the program. I apologise if that goes over the mark from time to time. But if you do compare it to what’s out there on the social platforms and the internet, the stuff being spewed out is terrible.”
He also had this message for listeners who were unhappy with the show’s content: “turn the dial off”.
“A lot of people love that content, too, and we live in a free speech world,” he said.
Pictured: Hamish McLennan