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In this week\u2019s On Background, Kyle Sandiland\u2019s very bad broadcast is worse in full, Lachlan Murdoch finds a new consigliere, and ABC staff take aim at their chairman for disclosing a new and improved pay offer in an \u201coutrageous\u201d way.<\/p>\n
The other Kyle tirade <\/p>\n
Kyle and Jackie O\u2019s broadcast of February 20, 2026, has gone down in the history books for one reason: his excoriation of her passion for astrology that was so severe that it broke their partnership of 27 years.<\/p>\n
But that moment was just the most minute of straws on the camel\u2019s back, as the rest of that episode shows.<\/p>\n
![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a14565af659a7f82c2fdd6be6b95b809caa704c7.jpeg\")
Kyle Sandilands emphasised his persona as an outrage machine in a photoshoot for the Financial Review in 2023.Nic Walker<\/p>\n
Earlier in the show, in the build-up to horoscope-gate, it was already clear Sandilands had got out of bed on the wrong side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might as well tell you guys now so you don\u2019t wait for a meeting next week. I told Bruno [Bouchet, Sandilands\u2019 manager and the show\u2019s executive producer] yesterday, everyone needs to up their game,\u201d Sandilands vented, before directing his fury at \u201cIntern Pete\u201d, one of the show\u2019s staff members and not, in fact, an intern.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re onto you that you\u2019re doing hardly any work, you spend most of your time here eating and then down at the gay sauna,\u201d Sandilands said.<\/p>\n
After Pete told Sandilands he was banned from attending the red carpet event for Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie\u2019s Wuthering Heights, Sandilands insisted staff \u201celevate your problems, rather than just letting the show turn into a piece of shit\u201d, and to stop \u201cbludging their way through the show\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t have liars working on the show … Does everyone understand?\u201d he thundered at the flock of producers, to which only two responded affirmatively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the other eight people, just too scared to speak?\u201d he added accusingly. Who wouldn\u2019t be, Kyle!<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, this stuff would be done after the show in a meeting, but who\u2019s got the time to hang around,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
But the most telling line came from a listener, who called in to praise both Sandilands and Henderson, who was silent throughout her colleague\u2019s rant.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what I love most?\u201d the listener said. \u201cThe way that Jackie just sat there and let Kyle do his thing, because she respects him and supports him, another thing these kids don\u2019t have. The way Jackie just sat there was class. And let you speak and the room went silent. So good on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t long that morning before Kyle turned his ire to Jackie \u2026 and the rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n
Twenty-seven years of radio, summed up in one show.<\/p>\n
Lachlan\u2019s new fixer<\/p>\n
With all the attention on KIIS FM and its parent company ARN this year, the company\u2019s main rivals have been able to slide under the radar.<\/p>\n
For a change, paparazzi were stationed outside Kyle Sandilands\u2019 house in Vaucluse, as opposed to a suburb over at Lachlan Murdoch\u2019s Bellevue Hill mansion.<\/p>\n
![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/94ef6ca95c75c07e8df0125cbc99545389e70c5e.jpeg\")
Linda Norquay <\/p>\n
Such relative peace only lasts a moment for the son of the Sun King, though, because a new four-part Netflix documentary series is due for release next week about the Murdochs, and it doesn\u2019t look like it will be complimentary about any of them.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Lachlan has been getting on with things. After the much-publicised exit of his long-time fixer and consigliere Siobhan McKenna, he has installed a new tsar for his private business Illyria and radio company Nova.<\/p>\n
That person, On Background can reveal, is Linda Norquay. She\u2019s taken the title of Illyria CEO and Nova Entertainment chair.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s a former banker at Macquarie, Barclays and the now-defunct Allco Financial Group, which went bust during the GFC.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t as though this is some new hire for Murdoch. Norquay has been with Illyria since 2010 as its chief financial officer and company secretary. The low-profile finance professional took an increasingly hands-on approach as McKenna\u2019s News Corp portfolio responsibilities grew over the years with both Foxtel and Sky News.<\/p>\n
But like McKenna, everyone eventually comes out of the shadows when they\u2019re dragged closer into the Murdoch orbit.<\/p>\n
Programming error<\/p>\n
There is a schism developing on Sky News\u2019 After Dark line-up.<\/p>\n
At 8pm on Wednesday, Sky News After Dark host Sharri Markson said podcaster and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly was \u201cbecoming more antisemitic\u201d, referencing her views on the reasons behind America and Israel\u2019s war in Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is following the Tucker Carlson path. Just in January this year, she also backed Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes,\u201d Markson said. \u201cShe described him as smart and interesting and said he made good points about America.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cc02d780d4f93a2f7c42578a5ef59e83faa1382e.jpeg\")
Former Fox host Megyn Kelly has emerged as a major Trump and Iran war critic. nna\\advidler<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not words one should use to describe a grotesque racist,\u201d Markson said as part of a longer segment on Kelly, arguing, \u201cthere is a reason that people like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly are not on Fox News any more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people have lost their journalistic credibility … yet their influence and misinformation online remains dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, it appears their influence and misinformation isn\u2019t limited to just \u201conline\u201d because quite literally one hour later, who was the star guest on Paul Murray Live? Megyn Kelly!<\/p>\n
Who is curating the programming over there? Maybe the Islamophobic guest who appeared on Freya Leach\u2019s short-lived show last year with bacon draped over his shoulders could even get another run!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve previously reported at On Background, Markson appears the only Sky evening host resisting the temptation to slide further to the right, as evidenced by the prominence of One Nation figures on the network.<\/a> Though, in saying that, Hanson did pop up on Sharri right after we wrote about it.<\/p>\n As some on social media have pointed out, Murray introduced Kelly on Wednesday as \u201cour favourite person in the world\u201d. She went on to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu America\u2019s \u201csecret president\u201d and the driving force behind Donald Trump\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n On Background asked Sky whether, when Murray says \u201cour\u201d, he really does mean everyone at the network? No answer came back.<\/p>\n It appears with all the complications of the network\u2019s new name, someone must\u2019ve forgotten to pass around the same hymn sheet.<\/p>\n $1000 and an AFR subscription<\/p>\n With ABC staff inching closer to its first proper strike in some years this week, staff were anxiously awaiting an updated offer from ABC managing director Hugh Marks.<\/p>\n But as Wednesday\u2019s town hall approached, word spread quickly around the Ultimo offices that Marks was briefing the latest offer to The Australian Financial Review alongside a rooftop photoshoot.<\/p>\n That offer, they soon found out, was a $1000 cash bonus on top of the existing 10 per cent pay rise over three years.<\/p>\n That\u2019s better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick \u2013 albeit not an actual improvement in their pay rate \u2013 but not to ABC staff. \u201cThis is outrageous,\u201d union members groused in their group chat, which one source said was \u201cblowing up\u201d when news got around.<\/p>\n Related Article They didn\u2019t mean the offer: it was that Marks had the temerity to give the details to the Review that had them irate. On Background certainly doesn\u2019t begrudge our sister paper getting a good story, however much ABC staff do.<\/p>\n When they confronted Marks at a town hall over his decision to speak to the Review, he was having none of it. \u201cI don\u2019t feel a need to defend my diary appointments,\u201d he said, or words to that effect.<\/p>\n Voting on a protected action ballot, which would let staff go on strike if successful, kicked off last week, and about 85 per cent of members have voted so far, we hear. And union messaging on Wednesday immediately downgraded the $1000 cash-in-hand offer to $700, after tax, which makes On Background think they may not be won over just yet.<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/415811155b1d32e04d02fea6314f0c7d32d835aa.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Calum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768870210_233_ed13c528ff29429d0a4267821595c52ca2cdc4cc.png\")
Calum Jaspan<\/a> is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 6, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-521149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}