What's New
BY Sarah Patterson June 18, 2026
What's New June 17, 2025
Duncan Campbell: “There was a lot of anti-Kyle & Jackie O sentiment in the media last year”
Reporter
“We accept there was some damage done last year and it’s going to be a longer, slower road to success now.”
In what has become the radio equivalent of Groundhog Day, the onus is again on Duncan Campbell to explain Kyle and Jackie O’s continuing failure to fire in Melbourne.
GfK Survey 3 saw the Sydney duo drop 0.7 to a lowly 5.1 on KIIS 101.1, leaving them sixth among their Melbourne FM Breakfast counterparts, below the ABC and only marginally ahead of AM sport station, SEN.
They also shed 30,000 in cume.
This interview with Radio Today and Radioinfo is Campbell’s last in his capacity as ARN’s Chief Content Officer.
But he leaves still confident that Kyle & Jackie O – who are on a much-publicised, ten year, $200 million contract – can turn their fortunes around in Melbourne.
How long that might take is anyone’s guess. Again, Campbell points out that Melbourne and Sydney are different audiences, and controversial content early in the piece didn’t exactly help their cause down south.
In his post-survey interview with Radioinfo’s Steve Ahern, Campbell says “We are very aware that in Melbourne with Kyle and Jackie O, we’ve got a longer, slower road to success there now, given what happened last year with the content and sort of the perfect storm that was created by the media getting behind the anti-Sydney show sentiment.”
Campbell believes there is a herd mentality that is common in larger Australian cities.
“People gravitate towards a movement, if you like. There was a lot of anti-Kyle and Jackie O sentiment in the media last year.”
Campbell is at a loss to explain the drop for Gold 104.3’s The Christian O’Connell Show this book.
“He’s had some very good shows. He’s very consistent … I don’t think there’s any need for concern there. It’s a very strong show. A very strong station.”
Campbell is pleased with the consistent results for Sydney’s Gold 101.7.
“We’re very happy with Gold in Sydney, because we’re now networking from 10am, Sydney-Melbourne … we introduced a couple of new announcers there – Higgo in Mornings, Toni Tenaglia in Afternoons.”
“The station’s in pretty good shape. Sue Carter and the team have done a very good job there with Gold – both Golds, really.”
Following some blowback over his use of the word ‘baggage’, Campbell has clarified comments about the rebranding of WSFM to Gold, saying his remarks were misinterpreted.
“I was referring to recent baggage, as a result of sort of the lack of marketing and sort of low recall we were getting on the station.”
He also points out the station extends to more than just the western suburbs now.
Elsewhere, Campbell believes dropping the music target by five years to attract a slightly younger audience was a factor in 96fm’s triumphant showing in Perth today.
He says Mix 102.3 remains a strong presence in Adelaide, and he is confident in the new Breakfast pairing of Hayley Pearson and Max Burford.
“That’s got a lot of potential, I think.”
Bonus Radio Today Tonight Survey 3 podcast episode featuring thoughts from Duncan, Nine Radio Head of Content Greg Byrnes, SCA CCO Dave Cameron, the ACE Radio Network‘s Jon Vertigan and smooth network head of programming Peter Clay below.
Hell will freeze over before the gross unfunny muck of Vile and Tacky takes over in Melbourne.
What an absolute joke! K&J are never, EVER going to succeed in Melbourne, or anywhere else for that matter. I’ve never seen a company cling to a losing idea for so long, and still try to spin it. It’s over!
Also no mention of the disaster that it 97.3 in Brisbane. People hate the KIIS branding, format and music – that is the problem, not the local breakfast show by the way. The problem is trying to have a 3rd CHR station in market of only 4 FM stations. It’s ridiculous, and the listeners hate it. I’m in Brisbane and all I hear in shops and cafes all over the city is Smooth FM on digital radio! Get the hint, 97.3 should be Smooth 97.3 and you’d actually be on a winner.
Just give up, Duncan. They’re cooked. K&J will take 101.1 to SEN levels if you continue with them.
Another pDuncan Campbell puff piece while more good people lose their jobs? And now we get another spin story on Kyle and Jackie O to distract from it all. The fact that Radio Today continues to act like a mouthpiece for Duncan without ever challenging his decisions or holding him accountable is beyond belief. Real journalism asks tough questions not just prints PR. Do better radio today.
My mood with Duncan’s attitude of K&J in Melbourne ‘can still work, in the long-term’ has changed from last year’s laughter – where it was obvious to anyone with half-a-brain that it wouldn’t work – to down right anger.
Anger, that the longer this drags out, the more cuts need to be made, and more staff that lose their jobs. Staff that have done nothing wrong, but find themselves on the unemployment line because some higher ups are too pigheaded to admit they screw-up, and too slow to rectify the situation.
The icing on the cake… the pair they axed for K&J, now have DOUBLE the share of K&J!
Hasn’t Dunco left ARN?
K&J will have (at least some) success in Melbourne, it’s just a matter of time.
This is because listener habits are changing, there will be more demand for compelling content. The K&J content machine is well geared to deliver.
The radio industry is also evolving (shrinking) and just like our international colleagues the room of radio entertainers is getting smaller. Whilst listeners don’t care about this, in car listening is the most popular (and in many cases the only) form of listening.
When there are only a few choices left, the talent delivering compelling content – potentially adjusted for the market – will prevail.
The whole MFW thing won’t take the farm because advertisers want exposure. They are prepared to pay for it. Being named and shamed by activists (that add little to no value to everyday Australians) won’t shutdown corporate clients, it only gains them additional exposure – also the goal of advertising.
On a side note, listeners don’t care which city compelling content originates from, that argument is dead and buried.
First, hasn’t Duncan left yet. It seems like it was announced 12 months ago. Must be the longest notice period in any role ever.
Secondly, they still fail to realise it’s not “a show from somewhere else”, it’s not “controversial” or “smut”.
It’s specifically Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson as a team Melburnians do not like, and will never like.
Running out of straws to clutch hold of there, Dunc. And how desperate do you have to be to blame the “media getting behind the anti-Sydney show sentiment”?
Duncan you are very good at rewriting history. It was you who sacked Jase, Lauren and Clint in 2023 and they ended up at Nova… I will say to you that Melbourne listeners chose not to listen to Kyle. It wasn’t to do with any media to do with your ordinary decisions…
This comment has been edited.
“Not Kyle” says K&J will win in the long-run because of their “compelling” content.
Now, “Not Kyle” did say one thing true, and that is people will look beyond their own cities for “compelling” content. BUT, it is also the reason why they will lose.
For most people, there are fair more “compelling” shows/podcasts out there to be found worldwide, from far more talented broadcasters/podcasters than K&J.
The way to win, especially in a radio market, is CONNECTION. If you develop a connection with your audience, you have a greater chance at success. Look at their stablemate, Christian O’Connell. An outsider from pommy land, but he succeeded not because of prior fame (famous in the UK, but not here), but that he purposely worked his butt off to establish a connection with his Melbourne audience, and took them on a journey with him as he got to know and became ingrained in the city.
It’s the oldest trick in the book. There’s stories about post WW2 that the Italians and Greeks who came to Melbourne and set up businesses like Milk Bars and Fish’n’Chip shops, on purpose started getting into Aussie Rules Football early on not because they actually were passionate about this new (to them) sport, but because they wanted to understand enough to converse with their dyed-in-the-wool Aussie customers about it. Building a CONNECTION with the customer, to get their loyalty and return business.
K&J screwed up right from the start when Kyle said he wouldn’t pander to Melbourne, or talk AFL (which is religion down here). Once you do that, it’s the middle finger to your protentional audience. Thus, no CONNECTION between listener and host(s).
The KJ show at its best would have won the ratings in Melbourne or anywhere else. The simple fact is Kyle and Bruno completely stuffed up the launch and you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. The media reported things that were actually said on air so you can’t blame them, and Geoff and his witches didn’t make up their quotes.
But as Craig, Irene and Wade have said many times, if they came to Melbourne right at the start of the year with a big sounding unpredictable show (without the smut) it would have blown away the competition. Not every one in Melbourne cares about AFL and you’re never going to compete with Fox/Triple M on that anyway.
We’re on this page because we love radio. Good radio. And no other show in Australia can match KJ at their best. However now they’ve blown it and I don’t think they can ever recover. The damage is done, and even if they have brilliant shows every day now the audience has made up their mind.
@not kyle. The only thing that is “compelling” about K&J’s content is that it compels the audience to look elsewhere!
People don’t like K&J, apart from those hard core Sydney listeners. They will never, ever succeed in Melbourne or anywhere else. People don’t like them!
” Alot of potential…I think. “
ARN’s biggest mistake wasn’t networking K&J; it was picking Melbourne as the first market outside Sydney to do so. They probably would have had more success in Brisbane had they gone there first as one could argue Sydney and Brisbane have greater cultural alignment than Melbourne and Sydney do. Had they tied a K&J launch in with the 97.3 rebrand / alignment to KIIS and it may have been a success. We’d probably be seeing ARN celebrating #1 and #2 FM breakfast shows in the two biggest cities (MEL / SYD) and a bigger presence in Brisbane, instead of this perpetual line of ‘they will succeed in time’ messaging.