Kyle Sandilands and Bruno Bouchet part 3
The final Kyle and Bruno package today with highlights from Mediaweek’s new podcast with the KIIS FM breakfast co-host and his business manager.
Don’t miss the full unedited and uncensored 1 hour and 22 minute interview here.
Download the new PodcastOne Australia app to listen or go to your favourite podcast platform.
Syndicated breakfast
BB: “The enquiry I get most from journalists is are we going to be syndicated nationally.”
Sandilands then said he has previously raised the idea of a national breakfast show with Ciaran Davis. In an Irish accent he repeated the response from the company CEO:
“You’ve already made enough money from me just for Sydney. Imagine the power you’d have if you were #1in every $%^&*@ capital city. You could do and say anything, and I’d be powerless.”
Sandilands said he’d love to co-host national breakfast with Jackie, but they don’t want to push other radio teams out of a job.
Kyle and Jackie O this week won their 16th consecutive survey as Sydney’s #1 FM station
When asked if he could nail a syndicated breakfast show for a Melbourne audience, Sandilands replied: “Easy. Other people haven’t been able to make it work because they have always chosen the wrong station. You need a show and a station that is not sports related. We have always had national shows [evening and then drive] before we went to breakfast. Our show doesn’t talk local and it is the only show that could possibly be nationally syndicated.”
BB: “People overestimate the difference between Sydney and Melbourne.”
Kyle Sandiland’s Radio secrets of success
When we suggested to Sandilands that when The Kyle and Jackie O Show was pulled apart it was pretty simple, he replied: “Oh god, he’s exposed us!”
He also indicated that many FM shows always worry too much about the quality of the calls being put to air.
“Bring on the whack jobs,” is how Sandilands likes to manage the callers.
Bouchet explained in the podcast how the producers line up the vetted calls on the left-hand side of the screen for the hosts. “On the right-hand side are the ones that the producers are working on getting rid of. Kyle reads the screen from right to left and takes all the calls from the right, especially if they are labelled ‘Do not put to air’.”
Sandilands said he is happy with people having a laugh at his expense. “If you are that much an ego lunatic that you can’t see you own flaws and faults and have a laugh at yourself, and be self-deprecating, then this is not the business for you.”
SCA sacks regional breakfast shows
“SCA is so thick with high-end management they have no idea what they are doing. There was a brigade of young programmers, radio announcers and producers [in regional markets]. You can make some mistakes in the regional stations, and it is where you learn off Broadway. People can then move to bigger markets like Gold Coast, Canberra, Newcastle etc and then the next step would be a capital city. They chopped out half the country’s young radio talent. Where do people learn now? Community radio? Even though people weren’t paid a lot at country radio stations, people do it because they love it.”
Kyle Sandiland’s health, sick days cost Sandilands $250,000
“They are very good producers,” said Sandilands of the production team, adding they are all well paid, possibly all pulling over $100k.
There were quite a few Best Of shows in 2019 when Sandilands was ill, not so much this year.
“I had big blood pressure issues and I had sleep apnoea. Some days I was so crippled with headaches I’d be projectile vomiting for hours. I now have the right doctors, eating better and sleeping properly. I now feel alive again.
“I hate missing the show. A lot of people thought I was a lazy bastard, but it was always crippling pain that would stop me from going. Now I don’t have that.”
Sandilands revealed he was penalised financially for missing a show. “$28,000 a day it costs me. I only get 11 sick days a year. Last year they penalised me $250,000.”
2Day’s next Kyle and Jackie O replacement
It has been well documented the number of breakfast shows installed at 2Day FM since Kyle and Jackie O departed. Coming in 2021 is Hughesy, Ed and Erin. During the Mediaweek podcast Sandilands called Hughesy with audio that is a little hard to hear.
Sandilands did comment though on where the new show might get its listeners from.
KS: “Probably from Nova, he’s a Nova type.”
Sandilands also commented on the old Today Network format of just playing the hits, which he said was a good, easy-to-understand music position.
KS: “Radio programmers must think let’s not do the easy, obvious thing, let’s do the hardest, wierdest, wackiest thing and see if that works.”
Sandilands also revealed that he and manager Bruno have purchased the social media handles for 2Day’s new Morning Crew and Hughesy, Ed and Erin breakfast brands. Sandilands estimated he might want $10m for the names, although he later mentioned a smaller amount of $1m.