What's New November 3, 2013

ARN confirm they are talking to Kyle & Jackie O

In the wake of the speculation regarding Kyle & Jackie O today, the Australian Radio Network has released a statement at 4pm AEDST confirming that they are in conversations with the pair.

CEO Ciaran Davis has said: "nothing is agreed but talks have commenced".

There is a myriad of conspiracy theories circulating, and the old saying "things are often the opposite to how they appear" may be worth keeping in mind.

The best guess is that one of three things is occurring:

ARN are in fact in negotiations with Kyle & Jackie O to join Mix Sydney, with both parties negotiating in good faith;
ARN are being used by Kyle & Jackie O as leverage to entice SCA to come back with an improved offer, or;
ARN and Kyle & Jackie O have no intention of working together, but are happy to work together to ensure SCA pay a high price to prevent the pair moving to a competitor.

The benefit for ARN in the final scenario is that SCA potentially have less funds for marketing in 2014, and the benefit for Kyle & Jackie O is that they get a higher salary.

Who knows which, if any, of those scenarios are correct.

What does appear clear is that Sami and Yumi have been sidelined by ARN, having been notably absent from any of the public statements from ARN. It now appears untenable, irrespective of the outcome of Kyle & Jackie O conversations, for them to return to Mix 106.5 in 2014.

The full ARN statement from this afternoon is below:

ARN NOTES PROGRAMMING CHANGES AT SOUTHERN CROSS AUSTEREO

Australian Radio Network (ARN) notes forthcoming programming changes at Southern Cross Media’s radio station 2DayFM with the departure of the Kyle & Jackie O breakfast show announced last Friday.

ARN Chief Executive Ciaran Davis said the success of commercial radio was built around retaining and attracting the best talent. ARN has some of Australia’s strongest on-air talent across its network, particularly in Sydney breakfast with WSFM’s Jonesy & Amanda who continue to perform exceptionally well and, earlier this year, helped to take the station to No. 1.

“ARN has been going through a significant transformation over the past three years” said Davis, “and our results and ambition mean we are in a strong position to talk to Kyle & Jackie O about joining our network”.

“Nothing is agreed but talks have commenced”, he said.

ARN is a 50:50 JV between APN News & Media and Clear Channel. ARN’s dual brand strategy with the MIX and Classic Hits networks in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide reaches over 4 million listeners, making ARN one of the leading broadcasters in the demographically important 25-54 segment in Australia.

ARN also recently successfully launched iHeartRadio in The Australian market. iHeartRadio is the only digital music service that combines custom music and live radio, covering a 1000 live radio stations across all ARN, TRN and Clear Channel’s US stations. Early take up of the service in Australia has exceeded expectations.