Media buyers and executives left the Hordern Pavilion feeling positive about a media company that has really gone through the ringer in the past year. With a special performance from Magnus Ferrell, ARN’s Upfront certainly hit plenty of high notes.
A year ago, the inaugural ARN Upfronts opened with a bold (and quite funny) speech from Kyle & Jackie O. Gags about baggies greeted marketers and media executives before CEO Michael Stephenson unveiled what was then a bold, new vision — ARN was much more than a radio business, it would become an ‘entertainment company’.
Fast forward to today, and Stepho’s vision remains intact, although some of the stardust from that night in October has blown up.
Kyle Sandilands and Jacqueline Henderson—the undoubted stars of ARN’s KIIS Network for decades—had a rather public and messy on-air divorce, were sacked by ARN and have taken the company to court to try and recoup some of their eye-watering salaries.
Much of that messy state of affairs has been put to bed—although Henderson is still battling ARN in court—and ARN was at pains to let the industry know.
Earlier this week, ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson told a trade press briefing that a list of 725 advertisers that had previously boycotted ARN due to the Mad Fucking Witches crusade against Kyle & Jackie O was now obsolete.
“We now have zero clients on the list, but the reality is is that it takes a while for those clients to cycle back, some of those clients might have not booked us for a week, but some of those clients might have done a deal with someone else for 12 months,” he said. “So for those clients, it could be a year to two-year lag but we expect they will all return.
“I’m very pleased about what we’ve been able to do in the past year. This year’s Upfront is not about the past, it’s about the future and the beginning of a new era.”
Last night’s upfront certainly had a clear theme that ARN is entering a new era. What they presented largely backed up that claim. Oh, and ARN is still positioning itself as an ‘entertainment business’.
“There was definitely a lot to take in, a lot of announcements, but I think that it was really clear where they’re investing to accelerate in becoming much more than just an audio business,” Zenith chief investment officer Elizabeth Baker told B&T.
“All of their extensions into video, their advancements in data and analytics, investing in sport and their wonderful talent. It felt very joined up and they are on track in becoming an entertainment business.”
Mindshare implementation and activation associate director Alex Stuart also noted ARN’s “evolution from an audio player to an entertainment powerhouse”.
“Personal connection and experiences are going to be at the heart of all their innovations for 2027,” Stuart added.
At last night’s Upfront event at the Horden Pavilion in Sydney, guests were treated to a dozen announcements and an entertaining set from Will Ferrell’s son, Magnus, although, sadly, no sign of dancers wearing disco balls.
The new Sydney (Chris, Amy & Jack) and Melbourne (Ash, Issie & Elliot) breakfast teams appeared on stage to show off their chemistry and also reveal that Carrie Bickmore will be the new drive time host on KIIS FM.
Bickmore is joining from SCA, and her defection to ARN is a real coup for the network. She will drive the aftrnoons solo, but with guest appearances, including a regular slot with the comedian Bron Lewis, who provided some of the lighter moments at last night’s event.
ARN is also sharpening its video play. It’s now offering video ads on its iHeart Network vodcasts, and its podcast Australian True Crime will now appear on Network 10 as a weekly show. There are plans for its breakfast shows to run on 10 in the future.
iHeart is also launching on Fetch next year, potentially reaching millions more Australians.
Other notable announcements is that ARN is launching its own AI-powered traffic network, brining over Ange Bass from ATN; ARN has secured the audio rights for the Australian Open and will be pumping out loads of sports content from Melbourne Park next January; there will be three integrated content platforms Save Our Club, KIIS & Catch Up and You Are GOLD!; and ARN has unveiled a new analytics platform called Spotty.
‘A real credit to ARN’s leadership’
Media agency leaders were broadly impressed by ARN’s positioning and bag of goodies.
“This new era of entertainment that they’re positioning as is believable,” Hatched managing partner and chief operating officer Adrian Roeling said.
“They’ve come out at the back of what was quite a white knuckle ride in the last 18 months; a baptism of fire for Michael Stevenson as a new CEO. It’s a real credit to him and the leadership team that they managed to deliver as much as they delivered over the last 12 months, whilst managing the Kyle & Jackie O situation.
“It’s really important that we have a healthy local media ecosystem, and ARN plays a big part in that. To see them come forward with really strong plans and a lot of optimism is really healthy for both culture, society and advertisers who have genuine alternative options to reach audiences scale.”
There were a number of eye-catching announcements to media agency executives. Undoubtedly, the star turn is Bickmore joining the KIIS network.
“Talent is everything when it comes to the strength of their content and she’s already got a really strong rapport with the community nationally,” said Zenith’s Baker.
Roeling also admired Bickmore’s signing, adding that it was refreshing for ARN to focus on so many female presenters, including their women’s sports network.
ARN’s rights with the Australian Open are another tick; it is arguably Australia’s premier sporting event that brands want to associate with. Media executives are eager to see how ARN brings it to life.
ARN’s video play
Providing advertisers with more video content to partner with was another positive move.
“Video is one of the fastest growing media channels in terms of revenue so this makes so much sense for them commercially,” Baker said. “It also is great for advertisers because consumers don’t think, ‘I’m going to listen to a radio or I’m going to watch TV’; they’re following content and talent, whether that’s listening in the car or watching it in their lounge room. This should provide advertisers better reach and better engagement.”
Stuart said ARN’s new video and distribution offering is very appealing.
“Knowing that over 40 per cent now watch video first was an eye opener. While there is a trusted voice and personal intimacy with podcasts, the ability to now have visual product integration and bespoke talent via video is a real value proposition,” she said.
“ARN tipped its toe in the water with a broadcast proposition earlier in the year with Eddie and Karl, paving the way for a wider partnership in 2027. This cross-platform distribution builds on the foundations of audio, whilst expanding into screens at times where the audience is highly engaged – be that at home or on public transport.”
Roeling believes the partnership with Network Ten is a great move for both parties.
“For Ten to distribute some of their content to wider audiences can really deliver a greater scale of audiences within the market. For Ten, it provides greater depth of content,” he said.
Spot on
Stuart believes the Spotty analytics tool could be a real “game changer” for Mindshare’s clients.
“The introduction of Spotty, their real time analytics platform is something that I haven’t really seen before,” she said. “Being able to have a live dashboard with next-day reporting on competitors, spot placements, creative messaging and investment is going to be a game changer for my clients. Using real time data, rather than post analysis will allow us to optimise far more effectively.”
Baker said the tool could be valuable to brands as it is notoriously difficult to get insights on clients competitors and how they are engaging with radio.
“Being able to see these insights in that level of granularity is hugely valuable,” she said. “I would love to be able to access that kind of thing though across the total, the total market.
“I also thought it was a good play for them to bring the traffic segment back into the fold. A lot of our clients capitalise on those short, quick messages around traffic updates when audiences are highly engaged.”
For Hatched’s Roeling, KIIS Travel represents an “interesting bit of innovation” as ARN diversifies into a completely new territory and “comes closer to the point of transaction”.
Overall, media agency leaders left the Horden Pavilion positive that Stephenson and the ARN team are on the right track.
“From what I’m hearing culturally within the business, the mood has really lifted. I think some of the talent that have left the show cast a really long and dark shadow culturally over the business. From people I talk to, from Michael Stevenson, right through the organisation, they’re all aligned,” Roeling said.
“Michael Stevenson’s creating a vision and he’s galvanised the team. I think the removal of some of this other talent that was over-indexing in terms of their energy and time and the negative cultural impact it was having in the organisation was lifted.
“They’re all very positive about 2027. Obviously, you know the market is challenging. I think the opportunity for them is to steal share from some of their competitors.”
