What's New
BY Sarah Patterson July 21, 2024
What's New July 15, 2024
The Collingwood of radio? How Melbourne’s media has responded to Kyle & Jackie O
Reporter
If Kyle and Jackie O were an AFL team, they’d be Collingwood.
That’s according to Andrew ‘Bucky’ Bucklow, radio writer at news.com.au.
“Either you love them or you hate them, but you definitely have an opinion on them,” Bucklow observes on the latest episode of the Game Changers: Melbourne Radio Wars podcast.
Bucklow (pictured above) jokes that with so much radio news and story angles flying around in the wash up from Survey 4, his fingers are bleeding.
Sections of the local media have been quick to sink the boot in over Kyle & Jackie O’s lacklustre survey result in Melbourne.
Bucklow’s take? “I think Melbourne journos are kind of revelling in the fact it was a little bit flatter than expected.”
“I think they maybe aren’t thrilled about the fact that Kyle & Jackie O were thrust onto them from Sydney.”
Plus, says Bucklow, a local Breakfast show was axed to make way for Kyle & Jackie O.
“So I think (Melbourne journalists) are probably rubbing their hands together a little bit and just enjoying the fact that they’re not being as successful as expected.”
Bucklow notes the most recent narrative has centred on Nova’s Jase & Lauren having the last laugh.
Having made way for Kyle & Jackie O on KIIS 101, the team of Jase Hawkins, Lauren Phillips and Clint Stanaway continue to rise up the ranks, and are now Melbourne’s #2 FM Breakfast show.
But, Bucklow says, if K & J start to improve their ratings position during the rest of the year, it keeps the ‘radio war’ talk alive.
“Kyle and Jack will be desperate to get their ratings up, to prove to all the naysayers in Melbourne that they can be popular there.”
Can they?
A recent TikTok video, in which a woman called out Kyle & Jackie O over their hardcore X-rated content during the breakfast shift, went viral.
“I’m sorry, but that is revolting … I am actually shocked. I was like, covering my mouth while I was driving going, ‘What the f**k is going on?’ Anyone else? Because I am just shook.”
Kyle Sandilands described her as “a Kmart jumper-wearing catastrophiser.”
But this isn’t someone in their forties or fifties. This is a woman in her early thirties and, she assures us, certainly no prude.
Funnily enough, I’m reminded of an old folktale called The Emperor’s New Clothes, in which nobody except a young boy is brave enough to point out publicly that a powerful ruler – who thinks he’s wearing flash new duds – is, in fact, stark naked.
Like the boy in this tale, is the woman in this video voicing what a lot of Melburnians are thinking, but aren’t brave enough to say?
Do they actually want a side serve of smut with their morning coffee?
Time and time again, Kyle & Jackie O have proved themselves to be a formidable on-air team. Whatever you think of them, their success is unrivalled.
As Bucklow points out, the first ten minutes of the show are when K & J are at their most loose and outrageous.
But that’s just one component of what K & J have to offer overall. What if Melbourne listeners can’t get past – or refuse to get past – the X-rated stuff to find out? Then, Houston, they have a problem.
Melburnians will tell you that achieving ratings success is much like Collingwood winning a premiership.
It’s not a cakewalk.
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What's New
BY Sarah Patterson July 21, 2024
May I add to this article that Nova 100 has picked up listeners from Lawley rating AM stations 13 7 7 am three MP and to aim magic the first from the sessions that nova picked up was February 11 after 4 pm and his name is Matt Saward Easter Sunday there were two more and their names are Russell and Leonie Saward they have been others who have come from the conversations also due to Facebook posts I have sent advise them to come to Nova 100 and yet they have it took some ring service to happen only two mil say but it has happened and more from the season will come on board.
Head over to @mfwitches on Instagram, Twitter and FB to see how women are lobbying advertisers to pull their ads from the K&J show in horror, given that 10-17-year-olds are the largest number of listeners of any station in Melbourne. It’s working. Vic Police are one of the latest to cancel their ads, along with Hungry Jacks, Adore Beauty and many more.
If it wasn’t for KJ, Jase would be a no name in radio today, it was his time in Sydney with KJ that made him a talent, but even then he was winger, he hated being pranked.
No one likes being fired or hearing of people being fired, and Jase and Lauren didn’t hold back about that to their Melbourne audience before leaving, and Kiss let them! so that’s a big stumbling block for Kiss and KJ now, they should have got rid of them faster and got KJ on air faster, not well played. Majority of Melbourne people aren’t like Sydney people, all they care about is AFL and are very territorial, the younger crowd seem cool though and probably do listen to KJ. No one outside of Melbourne cared about Melbourne radio until the hype of KJ arriving, they are lucky to have had national attention for a few months because now we do know of them. Sydney is electric and is the New York of Australia, just look at Vivid on TikTok, it was the place to be in winter and has a great vibe and surfing beaches in summer. If I was Kyle and Jack, I would have launched in Brisbane first not Melboring, they’re a bit looser in Bri. I will say this, Kyle shouldn’t have been so cocky, Melbourne people don’t like that and wouldn’t listen just for that reason, and Jackie is acting like a bit of a princess poser at the moment now that she has lost weight and has heaps of money, Melbourne would hate that, Sydney probably like it.
Kyle can afford to be cocky in Sydney because they know him well after twenty years, he is actually a very kind and cool guy but it takes a while to see that side of him, and Jacky is very open minded and gets people.
KJ have had a lot of issues in the past in Sydney and have been taken off air and been in all sorts of strife but have been forgiven and lifted again in ratings.
Globally KJ are well known and do radio very well, so I think once the dust settles they should increase, if not who cares, that would be KJ’s feelings, they smash it in Sydney so just focus on that market again.
Unfortunately Kyle has blown it. First impressions count for a lot and I cant see them recovering. Melbourne has made its mind up. They blew the launch and now the damage has been done. No fault to ARN, it’s been the content thats the problem. It’s gross, niche and quite disgusting at times. Only people who will listen are blue collar labourers, male’s in their twenties and thirties. I predict ARN wont roll out the national plan now as Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth will react even worse than Melbourne.