Kiis FM’s decline on Sydney breakfast has “got a little bit more to go” after a dramatic exodus of listeners since the axing of popular hosts Kyle & Jackie O, according to former content chief Duncan Campbell.
The Kiis Sydney breakfast show lost 1.1 points to a 7.1 per cent share in the fourth radio survey, released yesterday, which is now 5.6 points below Kyle & Jackie O’s 12.7 per cent share registered in the first book of the year.
The cumulative audience, which measures unduplicated reach, has plummeted by 20 per cent to 512,000 listeners over that period.
Campbell, who was ARN’s chief content officer for 15 years, believes the slide “has got a little bit more to go (to bottom out)”.
Speaking on The Game Changers podcast with Irene Hulme and Craig Bruce, Campbell believes departure of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson from the crucial breakfast slot is “obviously impacting (Kiis audiences) across the workday”, and that ARN shouldn’t delay finding their replacements.
“What’s going to be interesting is when Kyle launches his subscription service and what impact that’s going to have. Because if that’s successful, there’s going to be less available audience for breakfast, which is not a good story for radio,” he said.
Campbell said the Kyle & Jackie O show attracted a healthy audience of 40-54 year olds and that some of these listeners are starting to fall away. Since the first survey, Kiis has lost nearly 60,000 40-54 year olds, with some migrating to Smooth and Triple M.
“A lot of those 40-54s had just settled on Kiss because of Kyle and Jackie O. So because they’re not there now, they will dislodge over time,” Campbell explained.
“I’d be launching (a permanent replacement show) now or soon as I could. You want to give the radio listeners an offering now. The Sydney breakfast shows market is not as strong as it has been.”
Campbell’s advice may well fall on deaf ears at ARN headquarters.
In an interview with Mediaweek today, ARN’s director of content Dave Cameron said they intend to make a permanent change in the slot from 2027.
“Anything that happens earlier will be a bonus, but the strategy is for 2027 onwards, as it takes time to put things in place and will have an element of familiarity,” he said.
Kiis has been trialing a series of guest hosts alongside Mike E and newsreader Brookly Ross. Appearances have included Georgie Tunny, Bianca Dye, Abbie Chatfield, Amy Gerard and Melissa Leong.
It’s not just 40-54s that are fleeing the station; since the third survey, 75,000 10-39 year olds have left.
O’Connell needs more ‘local’
The other major talking point in the fourth radio survey is the decline in audience for Christian O’Connell’s new national breakfast show on ARN’s Gold Network.
In Sydney, the show dropped 0.6 points to a 6.6 per cent share, shedding 33,000 cumulative listeners to 371,000.
In Melbourne, where O’Connell established the show before it went national this year, audience slumped 1.3 points to an 8.7 per cent share, losing 41,000 listeners.
Interestingly, after the O’Connell show in Melbourne, the share jumps to 12.1 per cent, which means that breakfast isn’t driving other day parts, as is the case on Nova and Fox.
Campbell said the gamble to turn O’Connell into a national show isn’t paying dividends, although it’s still early days in Sydney.
“I’ve always believed that local breakfast shows work, and what we’re seeing with Christian, unfortunately, is that it’s impacting both markets now,” he said.
“The show is not the same as it was when it was just in Melbourne, the dynamic has changed. It was Christian and two sidekicks, and now it’s more of a morning zoo crew type feel.
“There’s less Melbourne on the air in Melbourne, and less Sydney on the air in Sydney.”
