The sudden demise of KIIS FM’s The Kyle & Jackie O Show is likely to inflict more short-term pain on ARN as they try to find replacements that can dominate Sydney’s airwaves in the coveted breakfast FM radio slot. B&T caught up with industry leaders to make sense of their sudden demise and what it means for KIIS FM’s parent company ARN.
Yesterday, ARN revealed that Jackie O had hung up her mic and placed Kyle on the naughty step for two weeks to work out whether he should join her after describing Kyle’s treatment of Jackie O as “an act of serious misconduct”. This morning, Kent “Smallzy” Small took their spot, telling listeners that their Henderson had left, Kyle was off air, but the show must go on.
Industry insiders have told B&T they believe that Sandilands will also be shown the door and that ARN is going through its legal HR process to terminate his contract.
Kyle & Jackie O have dominated Sydney’s FM airwaves for 22 years and were early on into a mammoth $200 million ten-year contract with KIIS FM.
Since they signed an extension in 2023, ARN has been in steady decline.
In 2025, ARN’s revenue declined by 10 per cent, its earnings (EBITDA) slumped 27 per cent, driven by a weak advertising market for the KIIS network. The company increased its cost savings targets to $55 million between 2024 and 2027.
ARN’s plan was to eventually roll out the Kyle & Jackie O show across Australia, gambling that their appeal in Sydney would resonate elsewhere.
It was a bet that massively backfired.
The move to Melbourne, succeeding the popular Jase & Lauren, who moved to Nova, was a ratings disaster, illustrating what most Australians already know that Sydney and Melbourne are very different places with different cultures and tastes.
Industry experts believe that Kyle and Jacki O’s relationship may have been troubled well before the on air spat that left Henderson in tears two weeks ago.
“The news of the Kyle & Jackie O’s split isn’t surprising. With such a long and intense history together, it always felt like only a matter of time before something triggered the end of their partnership,” Yango investment lead Natalie Murray said.
“While the show delivered huge ratings for years, many advertisers were hesitant to align with the talent due to brand‑safety concerns, and ARN never truly unlocked the full revenue potential the timeslot could have commanded.”
Sharon Williams, a crisis and media expert, and founder of integrated marketing and PR agency Taurus, believe the pair would have been under “huge strain” after decades of “performing and providing verbal clickbait to maintain listener numbers” as an on air “work wife, work husband”.
“[The nature of the break up] suggests there were issues rumbling under the surface. The volcano was smoking for both of them,” she said.
What next For Kyle & Jackie O?
Mark Noakes, the managing director of talent-led media and marketing agency Talent Corp, has previously led sales teams at Triple MM and Macquarie Radio, working with high profile shock jocks including Alan Jones and Doug Mulray.
He told B&T that it is unlikely either will return to the mic at KIIS or ARN, but believes that Kyle could make a comeback to radio once the dust settles on this chapter.
“They’ve been great for so many years and Kyle is an excellent broadcaster himself,” Noakes said. “His brand of radio has been unique and uniquely honest, and that has real appeal with audiences. He’s made a bloody brilliant career out of it, so I think he’ll be back, but I’m not sure about Jackie.”
The Kyle & Jackie O show was controversial; often censured by the broadcasting regulator ACMA and subject to an advertising boycott.
Nonetheless, Noakes believes that the pair leave a massive hole at KIIS FM, especially in Sydney.
“When Kyle Jackie O left SCA to go to ARN, $100 million in radio revenue went with them. So I can only imagine that if Kyle and Jackie O are going to leave ARN, there’s another $100 million that is going to go elsewhere. It’s going to have a big impact, and Sydney is a much bigger sales problem than Melbourne.
“They’re big shoes to fill. Kyle Sandilands don’t grow on trees.”
And for ARN?
On the positive side, their departure allows ARN to clear the decks of its KIIS breakfast slot from the contagion that occurred when advertisers began boycotting the show in 2024.
“For ARN, this moment creates a genuine reset opportunity — a chance to bring in fresh, ambitious talent and open the door for brands to align with personalities that feel safer, more versatile, and more commercially scalable,” Murray said.
“That shift alone could unlock untapped revenue and reposition the station for stronger long‑term growth.
“Kyle & Jackie O will absolutely leave behind a legacy, but for advertisers, this is a rare moment to rethink alignment and step into a cleaner, more brand‑friendly chapter.”
Noakes takes a more cautious view about advertisers and has personal experience of how challenging that minefield can be to navigate. He worked with Alan Jones when the 2GB shock jock suffered a similar boycott to his show.
“They might return, but one thing I do know is that advertisers will want to be certain around audience levels, and what this situation creates is a lot of uncertainty,” he said.
“It gives them an end to attract more advertising revenue, but only if they can find a sufficient replacement to deliver those large audiences. There’s going to be short term pain for ARN and probably more restructures.”
It’s not all bad news for ARN. There is one group that might privately be happy to remove $20 million per annum from the company’s P&L.
“The board will be jumping for joy,” Noakes said. “The contracts and the advertiser boycotts have been a bit of a dead weight on the business for a while now, and there didn’t seem to be any way out of it.”
