ARN’s Lauren Joyce on networking rumours and the ‘addictability’ of Kyle & Jackie O

With Lauren Joyce having officially taken over the ARN post-survey interview duties from Duncan Campbell, one wonders if it felt like being handed a red hot potato.

Up until now, trying to talk the company up and find a silver lining in Kyle & Jackie O’s lacklustre Melbourne results has required more spinning than a neutron star.

But for Joyce – the company’s Chief Audience & Content Officer – today, there is genuine cause for celebration at ARN.

For the first time since 1992, Gold 104.3 has claimed the overall crown as Melbourne’s #1 radio station.

The Christian O’Connell Show grew its audience to a 10.1 share, while Dave ‘Higgo’ Higgins, Toni Tenaglia and Steve Fitton all delivered standout results across the day.

In her post-Survey 4 interview with Radioinfo’s Steve Ahern, Joyce describes the content delivered by Gold’s Breakfast show over this period as ‘iconically Christian.’

“There were three major story arcs that we ran and all of them had the listener at the centre of them,” she says.

“I think that’s what the show does so well. It makes the listener the hero.”

“Doing that time and time again, Christian’s audience feel like they really belong to the show, and of course, they hang around for the rest of the day.”

ARN remains coy about the prospect of networking the show into another city.

“We’ve always said the Christian O’Connell Show has appeal beyond Melbourne … it’s incredibly strong,” says Joyce.

“When and how any expansion of the show might play out is something we’ll consider carefully within the broader content strategy.”

Also pleasing was Kyle & Jackie O’s cume lift and 0.5% rise to a 5.6% share in Melbourne, though Joyce concedes it’s been a while coming.

“We’ve still got a way to go from where we are to where we want to get to, but I think today was a reflection of the team’s efforts in concentrating on what’s important and delivering content that is on brand for the Kyle and Jackie O Show and on brand for KIIS.”

“Over this period of time, we did have a number of cash tactics … they were delivered in a really big fashion, so I think it goes to them kind of sticking to what they’re good at, and continuing to, you know, surprise audiences every morning.”

Joyce laughs heartily when reminded that the headlines Kyle & Jackie O have attracted in Melbourne to date have been – well, kind of negative.

“I think you’re being very diplomatic in saying it’s been ‘kind of’ negative,” she chuckles. “Because it’s been pretty much ALL negative!”

“It’s certainly been a challenging start for us and I think the style of content is certainly at odds with what the Melbourne audience is used to.”

But even bad publicity can help keep a brand top of mind.

“I think what’s important to us is that listeners actually DO listen,” says Joyce. “They go beyond the headline and they give the show a try.”

“I think one of the strengths of the show is this element of addictability. Once you’ve started listening, it’s very hard to stop. There’s something about it that just hooks you in.”

The strategy remains the same: Enticing more cume, then converting it.

Just as former Chief Content Officer Duncan Campbell was in discussions with Kyle & Jackie O about smoothing over the rougher edges of the show to make it more compatible with its Melbourne audience, Joyce is in similar conversations with the pair.

“Absolutely,” she says. “All shows are constantly in a cycle of improvement and I think that having those conversations with the stars of the show themselves are really important so that we’re on the same page.”

“Kyle and Jackie O are professionals. They’ve been doing this an incredibly long time.”

“Primarily, the majority of their content is universally entertaining.”

As for how Joyce is finding the day-to-day challenge of her  national programming role, she says “It’s feeling good. It’s incredibly busy, as you can imagine. But we’re in a time of change across the industry and I’m certainly one to put my hand up to continue to learn.”

“I think that’s what the whole industry offers us all at the moment. A time to learn and adapt quickly to how audiences are changing.”

*Images supplied by ARN.