What's New
BY Sarah Patterson October 4, 2024
What's New October 1, 2024
“We’ve removed the graphic sexual content. But it’s not going to be a sanitised show.” Duncan Campbell maintains Kyle & Jackie O will be a success in Melbourne
Reporter
Tall poppy syndrome is alive and well, if you ask Duncan Campbell.
ARN’s Chief Content Officer is reflecting on GfK Survey 6 results, which saw the juggernaut that is Kyle & Jackie O dominate the Sydney airwaves, whilst simultaneously taking a nosedive in Melbourne.
The KIIS duo dropped from 6.1 to a 5.2 share in Melbourne Breakfast.
Not only was share down for KIIS in Melbourne – cume was down as well, with Kyle & Jackie O shedding 71,000 listeners.
Did those listeners indeed sample the show – as had been suggested – and make up their own mind?
The way Campbell sees it, there’s a battle on two fronts: The audience battle … and the media battle.
In an interview with our sister publication RadioInfo, Campbell addresses the show’s shockingly explicit arrival on Melbourne’s Breakfast airwaves and what, in hindsight, might have been done differently.
“We could have explained the show in more detail to the audience over a longer period of time and got them used to that.”
Tweaks have already been made.
“The show was overly-sexualised,” says Campbell. “Kyle’s realised that, and we’ve made the change there, which is a positive. The graphic sexual content’s gone. But it will take time for the audience to pick up on that perceptually and change.”
Campbell says whilst these changes were made four or five weeks ago, the Melbourne media hasn’t really picked up on it.
“That’s the tall poppy syndrome there, but that’s OK.”
Campbell steadfastly maintains that Kyle & Jackie O will be a success in Melbourne.
“It’s still a market that’s unsettled. You’ve got changes happening from survey to survey. Nova last book. Fox this book.”
“We’ve got a job to do. There’s no doubt about that. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy.”
“Christian O’Connell, when he came on … despite it being a different show, everyone said it wasn’t going to work and we were crazy. Eighteen months later, it was #1.”
“Things don’t happen overnight, and we got a bit enthusiastic about it, I think, a bit too early on, and we had some issues there – which we fixed.”
Campbell believes there’s some fatigue around messaging and marketing.
“The marketing messages need to sort of subside a little bit and let the audience decide on which show they like, because they’re still undecided, in my view.”
“I’m not spinning this in any way. We’ve got to be very careful not to remove the DNA of the show. I mean, we’ve removed the graphic sexual content. But it’s not going to be a sanitised show.”
“It’s about relationships. People want to know what Kyle’s going to say next. They hang around for that.”
“When the dust all settles, it’ll be a strong, successful Breakfast show for us in Melbourne.”
Related news
What's New
BY RadioToday Network October 3, 2024
I think the ‘people want to stick around to hear what Kyle has to say next’ is less valid when you’re saying it in the same breath as claiming ‘hey we removed the smut’. If that’s true, what’s he going to say that’s so shocking? Something coherent perhaps? Lol…
Thought he was talking about a porno there for a minute
“We’ve removed the graphic sexual content”…as Kyle talked about his mother’s tight vagina in the 9am hour today.
Watching a content director squirm to sell air is one my favourite Olympic sports
That is outrageously not true if extreme sexual content has been removed. Hold yourself accountable to your words. The show for us in Melbourne is so extreme in its vulgar filth from a man in his 50’s and a woman who sits there offering such little direction of the conversation.
Not sure accusing the audience of tall poppy syndrome is a smart move to win them over…
ARN shareholders will be wanting a dividend, not continued excuses. With current projections the get-out clause in the KJ contract might be made after S1 2025.
This comment has been edited.
The horse has already bolted.
lol ok, sure thing Duncan.
Does that mean the smut loving Sydney audience is missing out on the trash that they love now?
Duncan is now spinning so fast he’s generating his own gravitational field.
Last time it was proof that they were on the right track because they went up 0.2. This time, it’s proof they’re on the right track because…. I’m still not quite sure what his reasoning is this time.
Can you please interview shareholders and NOT Duncan Campbell so we get a real feel for the mess they have created.
This post has been edited.
It’s ok to say you got it wrong.
71,000 people decided in this survey it was wrong as well
It’s cute that Duncan Campbell thinks that people think – “oh wonder what he is going to say next” is a thing still.
Even if you want to use that tactic and that’s ok we can pretend we are in the 00’s – Kyle hasn’t earned that right yet in Melbourne.
The question begs to be asked as to how was this ‘content’ allowed to go to air.
Talk about anal sex, spitting on dicks, gay whores, watching HD porn for starters.
How did [they] sleep at night knowing this garbage was going out
In an other workplace two middle aged employees behaving like this would see termination or the police called in.
This post has been edited.
If they think the show isn’t performing in Melbourne just wait to see what the 97.3FM audience thinks of it lol. ARN us having great success with their older skewing stations – Gold, WS, 96fm and Mix 102.3. Why are they insisting on destroying 97.3 by turning it into a B105 and Nova clone? Is it just to keep K&J happy? It makes no sense when a “Pure Gold” 97.3 would be absolutely dominating Brisbane if they went that way instead.
Dunc, tell us what date they’ll be number 1 – that’s if you’re confident ARN made the right move.
@Harrison, was it Duncan or Kyle that predicted they’d be #1 by the end of the year?