‘It is your fault, you are pearl clutchers’: Kyle Sandilands blames Melbourne listeners for poor radio ratings
Kyle and Jackie O’s introduction into Melbourne this year has not gone to plan and the shock jock apparently blames the city for it.
Per the Herald Sun, Sandilands took aim at Melbourne listeners last week just days after the Sydney powerhouse duo posted another disappointing result in the market – a 4.0% result – well behind FOX FM’s first place 10.0% share.
As well as slamming Melbourne fans, Sandilands also took another shot at the axed KIIS duo he and Jackie O replaced – Jase & Lauren – who moved to NOVA and reached #1 in the Melbourne FM ratings in August and stayed strong in the latest results at second with a 9.6% market share.
“I blame everyone in Melbourne,” he said.
“It is your fault, you are late to the party, you are pearl clutchers, you all love the sh*t show that used to be on here that we a***holed, after years of shit — a***holed them over to NOVA.
“They got one month of number one and now they are starting to go back down the gurgler again, but everyone keeps [a long censoring beep]… over it.
“If you want to listen to s**t, listen to s**t, that is fine by me.
“At the end of the day he is a ranga from Brisbane, he is not even a Melbourne guy, so who is the joke on? Pests.”
Mumbrella has contacted NOVA for comment.
As well as going at NOVA, Sandilands ripped into his own employer: “This is senior management again, butting their nose in, ‘Oh, here’s a great idea, let’s bring games on that we did 15 years ago.'”
Speaking to Mumbrella, audio expert and the former head of content at Southern Cross Austereo, Craig Bruce, said there are two key points to be made about Sandilands’ outburst.
“One is the madness of pointing the finger at the listener for ‘not getting us’, but the bigger concern for me were the comments about ‘management wanting us to do these stupid segments’. This is where the tension will build,” he said.
“What is the solution to the Melbourne question and who’s running this right now? Is there agreement from both parties that is a way forward.
Craig Bruce
“Kyle may have given up some ground on the graphic sexualised nature of the show, and he may even give up some ground on segments, contesting etc… but he won’t for long. If he thinks it’s not working, if the numbers don’t reflect an improvement, none of this will stick.”
Meanwhile, on the latest episode of the Mumbrellacast, Mumbrella publisher and former national director of operations and general manager of 2DayFM and Triple M Sydney and former Macquarie Media CEO, Adam Lang, said he believes Kyle & Jackie O can turn the underwhelming Melbourne results around, suggesting they still could hit #1 after 12 months in market.
“Look, they are fiercely competitive. And I think again, their ambitions are not just to take on Melbourne as well as Sydney, they’re to go national,” Lang said.
“So, this is unlikely to sway them. I think the game is still on for them in Melbourne.”
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Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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Never listened, but read about Sandilands. Congrats Melbs for politely refusing the proffered turdburger.
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Pearl clutchers? lolz – I reckon its more that Melbourne get it and Sydney will. Eventually Sydney will grow tired of ‘Ralph Magazine radio’ and he will be the one getting a**holed.
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Ahhh, the ‘Trumpian’ response: if you don’t like what has happened blame anyone but yourself . . . and if that’s not sufficient then say it didn’t happen.
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Kyle Sandilands “I feel bad for you Melbourne”
Melbourne “I don’t think about you at all”
Kyle and Jackie O’s style aside, why would anyone want to listen to a radio show made in another city when there are locally produced shows that cater to and discuss local culture and developments?
Also, I hope wherever he is, Jason Whalley is having a good laugh about all this.
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‘Rare good point by this guy. Melbourne people seek out outrage like it’s water in a drought.’…
Yet its Melbourne people rejecting outrage radio – go figure…. think you might have that twisted champ
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…why this guy has more than a niche audience anyway
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Rare good point by this guy. Melbourne people seek out outrage like it’s water in a drought.
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Haha, really good way to win Melbourne over
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The blame for the huge KIIS ratings failure in Melbourne is sole result of the egotists behind the microphone!
Bravo Melbourne listeners! Keep sticking it up Kyle & Jacqui O.!
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It’s a long way to make it from Melbourne’s No.7 breakfast show to No.1
It must be a weird time for Mr S. For the first time, he’s become a ratings liability and a drag on a station’s popularity.
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Ha, couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.
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They don’t have a year , and at best, a few years. Even I could do a better job in Melbourne , and I’m deaf and was an ex Malvern Depot tram conductor . .
Kyle is over 52 and Jackie over 49. They are getting ever further away from their audience median age of 36.8 years in Sydney and 36 years in Melbourne. Like the dirt and mud that falls off the end of a Caterpillar track before it goes forward to start again , at this age they getting too far removed from where the audience is. There is no second coming like the Caterpillar track .
All the best FM jocks retired well before 40, Wendy Harmer , Doug Mulray and Andrew Denton. That ARN nearly brought Southern Cross with this bad hand (and virtually no DAB stations and only two cap city FM pairs.) was astounding.
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