Kyle Sandilands reveals Melbourne show start date… but can he be trusted?
Kyle Sandilands has confirmed that the Kyle and Jackie O show will start broadcasting in Melbourne from next month… at least, that’s what he’s said.
Sandilands and co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson recently inked a historic ten-year extension deal with ARN worth a reported $200 million, a key part of which will see the pair’s Sydney show syndicated in other major markets, including Melbourne.
However, both broadcasters, plus KIIS parent company ARN, have, up to now, remained coy as to the Melbourne launch date, with Henderson only commenting it’s coming “pretty soon”.
This morning’s show, however, found Sandilands breaking his vow of silence. A caller asked the pair when they would finally come to Melbourne airwaves, telling them, “we need some decent radio down here.”
Sandilands simply responded: “Six weeks.”
Despite this on-air revelation, ARN declined to confirm the start date with Mumbrella this afternoon, simply saying that the show is “coming soon”.
ARN CEO and managing director Ciaran Davies said, when first announcing the contract extension, that the interstate syndication was due.
“The strong uptake of their podcast and social followings in Melbourne demonstrates that Kyle and Jackie O already have significant appeal with Melburnians,” he told Mumbrella.
“Coupled with their record-breaking ratings this year, now is the ideal time to further extend the brand’s footprint.”
The question mark surrounding the start date also comes as ARN’s takeover bid for SCA continues to be discussed, which would see the network create a “focused” metro radio network of 10 stations across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with each city featuring a KIIS and Triple M brand.
Earlier this month, ARN said it is looking forward “to accelerating the engagement with the SCA board” regarding the takeover after a ruling that it bought shares from radio rivals Southern Cross Austereo in “unacceptable circumstances” was overturned.
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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It will be interesting to see how a company that can’t network one show goes taking over a network built on ever changing football timings across conflicting codes.
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