‘It’s a slow road back’: Toning down the Kyle and Jackie O show

Nathan Jolly

March 31, 2025 10:55

“It’s a slow road back for us there,” ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell says of winning a Melbourne breakfast audience turned off by Kyle and Jackie O’s ungraceful entry in the market last year. “We’re well aware of that now.”

Campbell spoke to Mumbrella on the same morning the media and communications watchdog slapped the show for breaching commercial radio decency standards.

The incident in question happened last June, and although the ruling didn’t come up in our conversation, Campbell was eager to stress that the Kyle and Jackie O show that breached those standards — the same program that copped 59 complaints between last July and November — is a thing of the past.

“It’s a different show than it was last year,” Campbell says of the new look Kyle and Jackie O show. “That graphic sexual content’s been removed, and I think the content they’re producing now is back to some of their best.”

Kyle & Jackie O

This is good news for ARN and their relationship with the watchdog, but any change in direction needs to be delicate. After all, while Melbourne audiences are yet to bite — with the pair’s 5.1% share keeping them down in eighth place in their timeslot — Sydney listeners have kept the pair on top of the FM breakfast ratings for 49 straight surveys.

“It’s still the Kyle and Jackie O show,” Campbell says of this balancing act. “[Sandilands] still has strong opinions, but the content is now far more palatable. So, if we can maintain that consistency, that will convert listeners – because I still maintain it’s one of those shows that, when you understand the show and you get involved in it, then it becomes almost addictive.

“I think we’re on track, and we just have to maintain focus and consistency now.”

Now that the content has been softened, there’s a larger hurdle to be jumped: that of Sandilands’ tenuous health. The presenter announced last month — on-air, naturally — he has a brain aneurysm that requires “immediate attention, brain surgery.”

Campbell revealed that Sandilands’ aneurysm actually requires monitoring, rather than surgery, but it has still hampered plans for the pair to spend a great portion of early 2025 in Melbourne, currying favour with the local audiences.

“He still plans to be there in the coming couple of months,” Campbell said. “I guess that’s put some restrictions on that, to some degree.”

Campbell says, despite the medical restrictions, and the Melbourne battering, Sandilands is focused on what needs to be done from here.

Duncan Campbell

“In terms of his health, he’s modified some eating habits, and he’s trying to get some more focus on that, so that’s sharpened his focus in that aspect. And in terms of the show – he’s a radio person. He understands what has to happen now, and what he needs to do, and you can hear it on the air.

“He’s explaining the show more than he has been in the past, in terms of the Melbourne audience. There’s more Melbourne callers on the air, and he’s making more references to Melbourne, not just as throwaways, but as part of the content. And the content is really back to what they do best, which is relationships between people, and celebrity and topical content.”

Campbell says Sandilands is “upbeat” about the show’s future.

“He’s an optimistic sort of guy. He obviously doesn’t like the fact that he doesn’t have the ratings in Melbourne yet, and he understands that the strategy now is to slowly grow that, but he’s committed to that, obviously.

“He’s pretty positive, to be honest.”

And despite Sandilands’ optimism, is there any cause for concern from Campbell or ARN? After all, they are currently paying $20 a million a year to the eighth-biggest breakfast show in the biggest radio market.

“No, it’s not a worry,” he said. “No, we know what has to be done. We know they can deliver, so we don’t have a problem here.”