The Kylie and Jackie O show achieved a small win in the Melbourne ratings war on Wednesday, as KIIS FM earned a 0.1 per cent increase in the Breakfast market share during the first survey of 2025.
Sydney juggernauts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson have been embroiled in the battle since their multimillion-dollar expansion into the city saw ex KIIS FM stars Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins and Lauren Phillips be axed.
Sandilands was previously unapologetic about the April 2024 move, saying the station gave Hawkins and Phillips, both 42, a ‘good run’ with their breakfast show, but ‘it can’t get over fourth in the radio ratings, so we’ll take it’.
However, Sandilands and Henderson, 50, have failed to make good on that promise to date.
Nevertheless, it appears 2025 may be a new opportunity for the pair to creep up in the ratings, as their rivals Hawkins and Phillips, who now host breakfast show Jase and Lauren on Nova, took a 1.4 per cent dip in survey one.
The final survey of 2024 saw Jase and Lauren extend its lead as Melbourne’s #1 FM Breakfast show with an 11.5 per cent share while Kyle and Jackie O fell to a measly 5.0, leaving it sixth among the FM stations.
The Kylie and Jackie O show achieved a small win in the Melbourne ratings war on Wednesday, as KIIS FM earned a 0.1 per cent increase in the Breakfast market share during the first survey of 2025
Now, in results obtained by GfK for Commercial Radio Australia between January 19 and March 1, Kyle and Jackie O have hopped up to a 5.1 per cent share, while Jase and Lauren was knocked out of the lead with 10.1.
The Christian O’Connell Show, of Gold 104.3, took out the FM Breakfast lead when it jumped 2.8 percentage points to a share of 11.5.
‘Today my team and I are buzzing at the news,’ O’Connell, 51, said of the results.
‘We haven’t had mega marketing money and done big noisy cash giveaways, this is about making a show with our audience with our hearts that I hope matters.
‘We are in scary times, and we need all the help we can get, I hope my show is a beacon of joy.’
Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft of 3AW took out the overall AM and FM Breakfast top spot in Melbourne with a mile-long lead of 20.6 percent—up by 1.3 since the last survey.
Jase and Lauren slotted into second place for FM Breakfast, followed closely behind by former #1 show Fifi, Fev and Nick at Fox FM, which dropped another point to an 8.4 per cent market share.
Triple M’s Mick in the Morning with Roo, Titus and Rosie is sitting at #4 with a 7.9 per cent share—up by 1.3—with smoothfm 91.5 (7.5) and ABC Melbourne (6.3) following behind.
Kyle Sandilands, 53, and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, 50, have been embroiled in the battle since their multimillion-dollar expansion into the city saw ex KIIS FM stars Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins, 42, and Lauren Phillips, 42, (both pictured) be axed
On April 29, 2024 Sandilands and Henderson took their KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O breakfast radio show to Melbourne in a huge multimillion-dollar expansion deal.
The move triggered the axing of Hawkins and Phillips own KIIS FM breakfast show, which Sandilands said he was indifferent about.
‘No, I don’t care. That’s why we went for Melbourne, we were like, “We’ve given this Jase and Lauren on KIIS FM a good run, it can’t get over fourth in the radio ratings, so we’ll take it,”‘ he told news.com.au at the time.
He added the Kyle and Jackie O show was moved to Melbourne because it was a ‘market in trouble’ and their program could help regain listeners.
However, Henderson took a different approach, adding that while she didn’t like competitors being axed it was the unfortunate reality of the business.
‘No one ever wants to move someone out of a job. I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. It’s a double edged sword, it really is,’ she said.
Sandilands and Henderson have since struggled to capture the Melbourne market, despite continuing to dominate FM Breakfast in Sydney with a 13.3 per cent share—albeit decreasing by 0.2 since the last survey.
In November, Sandilands vowed to reduce the graphic sexual content on his KIIS FM radio show this year to appeal to the Melbourne audience more broadly.
Sandilands was previously unapologetic about the April 2024 move, saying the station gave Hawkins and Phillips a ‘good run’ with their breakfast show, but ‘it can’t get over fourth in the radio ratings, so we’ll take it’
In a bid to make a dent in the market, ARN’s chief content officer Duncan Campbell says Sandilands will have to dial back on the ‘smut’ and inappropriate on-air remarks.
‘The sexual content was really a small part of the show,’ he told Mumbrella at the time.
‘Because it was graphic, it grabbed everyone’s attention—but [Sandilands’] taken that off, really. It’s still sexual content. But not the graphic sexual content that it once was.’
Campbell also told the outlet Sandilands ‘came to the table’ with toning down on the graphic content.
‘He agreed to do that, which was a real positive,’ he added.
‘And, I mean, he wants to win in Melbourne. There’s no doubt about that.’
Elsewhere, the CCO also promised their marketing tactics will be ‘less brash and unapologetic’.
‘We believe, with the removal of the graphic sexual content, the show’s much, much easier to listen to now,’ he said.
