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The Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) Chief Audience and Content Officer Lauren Joyce has been made redundant.
In a statement sent to Mediaweek, ARN CEO Michael Stephenson outlined the changes in a formal statement, saying: “ARN has been evolving its content operations since late 2022 as we continue to build a business that’s ready for the future. As part of the next phase, we’re reorganising our Audience & Content function to separate our core content teams from the support teams, allowing us to focus more clearly on creating and delivering great content. This restructure includes the role of Chief Content Officer, who will have sole responsibility for content creation and distribution.
“As a result of these changes, Joyce will leave ARN at the end of 2025. Lauren is an incredible strategist and respected leader who has made a significant contribution to ARN over the past seven years.
“She has played a pivotal role in strengthening the connection between Content and Commercial, elevating our marketing and communications capability, and helping shape ARN into the market-leading business it is today. We thank her for her leadership and the impact she has had across the organisation,” he said.
ARN COO Michael Stephenson
Joyce also issued a full statement reflecting on her time at the company, saying: “I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had at ARN. It’s been a privilege to work with such a talented team and contribute to a business I genuinely care about.
“Across my roles here, every decision I’ve made has been with our people, our brands, and our shareholders in mind. I hope I’m remembered for championing ideas from everywhere and for always pushing for the best possible outcome – for all of us. I wish the team the very best in the future,” Joyce said.
Joyce was part of ARN’s public response to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) proposed new licence conditions linked to The Kyle & Jackie O Show and its $200 million talent deal with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.
Unless successfully challenged, the ACMA ruling would see any program involving the pair operate under tighter licence conditions for five years, including a requirement to comply with clause 2.2 of the Commercial Radio Code covering the respectful treatment of callers and on-air participants.
Joyce told Mediaweek in a recent interview that the proposed conditions had driven an intentional recalibration of the show’s content. “We have pared back some of that more extreme content,” she said, describing it as part of a broader tightening under intense scrutiny.
On the ongoing investigation, she stayed on script: “We respect the regulator and the Commercial Radio Code of Practise and our responsibilities as a licence holder, and we will provide a formal response in due course as part of the process.”
Pressed further, Joyce declined to elaborate. “It’s not appropriate for us to discuss those details at this stage. We will continue to engage with ACMA on this and formalise a statement when appropriate.”
Melbourne results and the $200 million question
Joyce has also been central to ARN’s positioning around the performance of the Melbourne extension of The Kyle & Jackie O Show, nearly two years after the high-profile talent deal was signed.
However, as Mediaweek understands, Joyce was not instrumental in either the crafting or the signing of the deal.
In Survey 7, Melbourne breakfast slipped from 6% to 5.5%, with cume easing from 427,000 to 402,000. Joyce emphasised that the numbers needed to be viewed in context: “The station as a whole, and that breakfast lot, is still very much within the historical range of that station.”
Kyle and Jackie O on stage at the ARN Upfronts
“You’re right, the show went down slightly, but the station went up slightly” she said. “We do know that we’re delivering a solid product down there and absolutely we have a job to do to attract more listeners to breakfast and then translate that across the day.”
Joyce stressed ARN’s commitment to the long-term play: “We will continue to support the show to deliver the best content that they can and, of course, the combination of both on-air and off-air marketing to attract new audiences to the station.”