The demise of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson’s radio show likely marks the end of big-name stars on long-running multi-million-dollar contracts dominating Australian airwaves, media commentators say.
The 25-year partnership of Sandilands and Henderson came to an abrupt end on Tuesday night, putting a cloud over their reported $200 million pay deal.
ARN Media, the owner of KIIS FM, said in an ASX announcement on Tuesday, Henderson had “given notice she cannot continue to work with Mr Sandilands” almost two weeks after an on-air falling out.
The network also said it considered Sandilands’s behaviour during the show on February 20 “an act of serious misconduct”, which was in breach of his contract.
Sandilands, who had presented the show solo since, will stay off-air and has been given 14 days to “remedy this breach” or “cease to present” the show.
The pair, who have been on air together since 1999, were each signed to a reported $10 million-a-year 10-year contract in 2023 with ARN Media.
At the time it, was considered one of the longest, and most lucrative, deals penned by radio personalities.
The Kyle & Jackie O Show came in at #2 overall in Breakfast in Sydney in the last survey. (Facebook: The Kyle and Jackie O Show)
Veteran broadcaster Steve Price told 702 ABC Sydney current advertising figures could not support such costly agreements in the future.
Price, who has previously had public disagreements with Sandilands over the show’s controversial content, described the KIIS FM deal as “outrageous”.
“When you think about it, John Laws is gone, he’s passed away. Sadly Alan Jones is off air awaiting a court date. Those two are the highest paid radio performers for a very, very, very long time,” he said.
“Ray Hadley is retired … Neil Mitchell in Melbourne, same thing. I think the big dollars in commercial radio AM and FM are a thing of the past.
“And I think, you know, the, the operators of these businesses have realised that the advertising dollars are no longer there to support those big contracts.”
Price said he thought one of the reasons ARN made the move it did was the size of the contract.
Representatives for ARN, Sandilands and Henderson have been contacted for comment.
Show ‘wasn’t getting the advertising support’
Tim Burrowes says a long-running advertiser boycott casued problems for ARN. (ABC News: Rachel Holdsworth)
Tim Burrowes, who co-founded media news site Mumbrella, said a long-running advertiser boycott after years of controversial content proved a problem for ARN’s deal before the show blew up this week.
“A campaign group called MFW, Mad F***ing Witches, has really taken against some of the on-air content and effectively organised a boycott,” Mr Burrowes told 702 ABC Sydney.
“The challenge for ARN was, although the show rated very well in Sydney, not very well in Melbourne, it wasn’t getting the advertising support that their audience numbers would have suggested.
“It’s because of that long-running campaign, so they already have a commercial challenge going on before the bust-up of a few days ago.”
The writing was on the wall for the Kyle and Jackie O show
Mr Burrowes wondered if the size of Sandilands’s pay packet played into ARN’s decision.
“Is this really them reacting to the breach or is it them wanting to get out of the contract, which just isn’t commercial for them,” Mr Burrowes said.
“And that I think is set to be a huge battle because, effectively, there’s $100 million at stake.”
ARN has offered Henderson the “possibility of an alternative show” on the network.