Kyle Sandilands has responded to criticism from a number of his radio rivals following his historic $200million deal with KIIS FM.
On Friday’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the 52-year-old fired back at 3AW’s Neil Mitchell and 2GB’s Ben Fordham, who both downplayed the shock jock’s success.
Last week, Fordham called stories about Kyle’s earnings ‘farcical’, while Mitchell said that he ‘wasn’t as successful as he claims’.
Responding to the criticism, Sandilands sniped, ‘I’m not sure what that means.’
He continued, ‘Even Ben Fordham didn’t believe how much money I make. A lot of people think it’s uncouth to talk about this, and I do understand it is a remarkable amount.’
Kyle Sandilands has responded to criticism from a number of his radio rivals following his historic $200million deal with KIIS FM
Referring to himself and co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, Sandilands explained how their business model is much different to Fordham’s.
‘Our companies lease us to the radio network. I’m not like Ben where I’ve applied for a job with resume and shown up with his tie and hoped to impress the bosses at Channel Nine,’ he said.
‘That’s now how this s**t works for us … Our way of dealing with it is, “You pay this and you can have the show this long.”
‘There’s no begging and a**e licking,’ he added, before jokingly asking Jackie if she’d done any ‘a**e licking’ to get their show picked up.
Last week, Ben Fordham (pictured) called stories about Kyle’s earnings ‘farcical’ and accused him of spreading ‘false information’ about his own wealth
‘He’s not as successful as he claims he is, but he is successful, and you’ll certainly know he’s in town,’ 3AW’s Neil Mitchell (pictured) said of Sandilands
In an interview last week, published just days before Kyle and Jackie’s $200million KIIS FM deal was confirmed, Fordham trashed the pair’s earnings.
‘I’ll throw Kyle and Jackie O under the bus – the stories about how much Kyle and Jackie O earn is absolutely farcical,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘They are just made up. Kyle just makes it up, he spreads all this false information about earning squillions … he earns a lot of money, so does Jackie O … but it is rubbish – completely rubbish.’
3AW’s Neil Mitchell then took a swipe at Sandilands on his popular Melbourne breakfast show this week.
‘Even Ben Fordham didn’t believe how much money I make. A lot of people think it’s uncouth to talk about this, and I do understand it is a remarkable amount,’ Kyle responded on Friday
‘I’m not like Ben where I’ve applied for a job with resume and shown up with his tie and hoped to impress the bosses at Channel Nine,’ he said
The veteran radio star, 72, said on his popular 3AW program Mornings with Neil Mitchell on Thursday that he has no intention of ever listening to The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
‘He loves it, he understands it, he exploits it, he knows his audience and he’s an effective broadcaster but I wouldn’t listen to him in a fit,’ said Mitchell.
‘He’s not as successful as he claims he is, but he is successful, and you’ll certainly know he’s in town.’
Mitchell said he doesn’t believe Sandilands will be able to beat rival, Ross Stevenson, who is a massive star of Melbourne radio.
Kyle and Jackie O signed the record-breaking $200million, 10-year deal live on-air on Wednesday morning – keeping them on the airwaves until 2034
‘Radio’s about competition. I think Ross Stevenson will see it all off,’ he said.
‘He’s a quiet genius in his own way and I think the industry underrates him, but the audience doesn’t.’
‘Kyle will try and steal audience anywhere, including Ross. In the end I know Ross Stevenson is going to deal with him.’
Mitchell finished by saying that Kyle should never be ‘underestimated’, adding he is a ‘very smart’ guy.
Kyle and Jackie O signed the record-breaking $200million, 10-year deal live on-air on Wednesday morning – keeping them on the airwaves until 2034.
This means the pair will dominate markets outside their Sydney-based audience and extend into Melbourne for the first time.
READ MORE: Kyle Sandilands splurges $13million on a new mansion in Sydney after signing $200million deal with KIIS FM
