Summer Breakfast: Jase & Lauren power through to Christmas

They pissed, and they missed.

If those five simple words don’t sum up the 2024 Melbourne Breakfast Radio Wars, then I don’t know what does.

Credit for this spicy headline goes to news.com.au’s Andrew Bucklow and he is, of course, referring to Kyle & Jackie O, and their now notorious ‘pissing contest.’

Just in case you missed it, this was when the KIIS duo played audio of male and female staff members urinating. The on-air team then had to guess who the mystery ‘streamer’ was.

It was about as classy as making a sun hat out of a goon bag, and probably just as effective. Some might even argue it helped send their ratings down the toilet.

Despite millions of dollars having been wagered on ARN’s biggest networking gamble, Kyle and Jackie O currently hold a paltry market share of 5.1% in Melbourne.

To put this in perspective, that’s just one point above sports station SEN 1116’s Breakfast show.

But perhaps the explanation for this is simpler than we think.

On the latest episode of the Game Changers Radio: Melbourne Radio Wars podcast, former SCA Head of Content Craig Bruce says “I think the fundamental reason that Kyle and Jack haven’t been successful in 2024 – and yes, there have been content issues all the way along – is that very few listeners in Melbourne were in the market for a new Breakfast show.”

“No-one was looking.”

“They like The Fox. They love Fifi … they’ve probably listened to The Fox for years. They love Jase & Lauren. They love them so much, they followed them from KIIS to Nova. They love Christian. He’s been in their lives for six years. He’s a good egg. Everyone’s happy!”

With summer now well and truly upon us, Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren is literally the last show standing in the Melbourne Breakfast Radio Wars.

Jase Hawkins, Lauren Phillips and Clint Stanaway are staying on air, powering through until Christmas.

As Game Changers co-host Wade Kingsley says “I actually think it’s a Jase and Lauren decision, because they like working when people are in their normal listening habits and don’t worry so much about ratings periods.”

 Are they just dialling it in, though?

“No way,” says Kingsley. “They are foot to the floor.”

Seizing on localism and the need to keep kids entertained over the holiday period, Jase & Lauren decided a takeover of Gumbuya World was in order, with a live O.B at the adventure park, located just outside Melbourne.

GfK Survey 8 is due to land Thursday, December 12.

GfK Survey 7 saw Jase & Lauren reclaim their title as the city’s #1 FM Breakfast show, up 1.4 to an 11 share with a cume gain of 34,000, leapfrogging previous ladder leaders Fifi, Fev & Nick on The Fox.

What a year it’s been in radio.

Now we look to 2025.