In all areas of life, personal and professional, we like to put forward the most positive front, especially on social media, while we might be struggling behind the scenes. Sometimes we get away with it, because attention is elsewhere, but right now, for better or worse, it feels like the radio industry is sitting in the spotlight.
Part of this is most definitely brought on by the Australian Radio Network (ARN) announcement, a year ago now, that Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson would move into Melbourne, on KIIS 101.1 for a reported $200 million, 10 year contract. At the end of last year too ARN was still in the midst of a process to takeover Southern Cross Austereo (SCA).
Initially I was excited about what this could mean for radio but then the fall out of the failed takeover, and Kyle and Jackie O’s lacklustre performance so far in Melbourne, with reverberating effects in their Sydney stomping ground, have seen mass redundancies, across networks beyond SCA and ARN.
Last Friday Mike Byrne, ARN Content Director for WSFM, made redundant. The move ostensibly streamlines Sydney’s WSFM and Melbourne’s GOLD 104.3 with the latter’s Content Director, Sue Carter, now the Head of Content for a GOLD Network. Mike had just had the wonderful experience of witnessing WSFM as the top station outright in Sydney in GfK Survey 7.
The Sydney Morning Herald (subscription required) said last Friday that 30 to 50 staff from ARN’s content, sales and marketing divisions were to be made redundant and, perhaps the biggest champion of Kyle and Jackie O of all, Chief Content Officer Duncan Campbell, would move into a consultancy role, focusing only on the Kyle and Jackie O Show. Campbell brought the show from SCA’s 2Day FM to ARN in the first place, watching their FM Sydney radio dominance across a decade. This, however, is new territory for them all.
A spokesperson for ARN told Radioinfo:
“Like many local media companies, we have had to make some changes to select roles and teams to position ARN for success in 2025. These changes have already been implemented, and we are deeply grateful for the professionalism and dedication of everyone impacted.
Contrary to reports, no changes have been made to ARN’s Executive Leadership Team.”
Which says Duncan is staying but that others have gone.
It’s tough, and not just at ARN.
SCA has done the most massive overhaul of Triple M that the network will ever see. Triple M was the asset, along with LiSTNR, that ARN wanted most in their failed takeover bid. I wonder if they still do. There is a sense of what my mother would call ‘cutting your nose off to spite your face’, but perhaps the networking of two drive shows across Australia, Marty Sheargold across NSW and Queensland, and James ‘JB’ Brayshaw and Billy Brownless in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, might resonate to the regions in ways I haven’t imagined.
The Australian Financial Review (subscription required) have also suggested things got so dire for Nine Radio and 6PR in Perth that they considered taking the rival Nova Entertainment‘s smooth FM, only available currently on DAB+, rather than investing in a talk station at all.
I haven’t even touched on ABC Radio Sydney which will take a while, after the losses of Richard Glover and Sally Sara willingly, Sarah Macdonald and Simon Marnie not so, to recover its listener’s affection.
Externally, while you might see that Leisel Jones and Liam Flanagan (pictured above) get other jobs at Triple M after being retrenched, ARN is building a country music Australian network, Nine’s 4BC gets a full local daytime lineup and Perth brings a local favourite back to 6PR, the sense of holding our breaths to see what might happen in 2024, has been replaced by the need to duck and hide lest we be hit by flying debris.
Out of this turbulent period rise some of the slow and steady performers who hold their funds close to their chests and bother less with social media onslaughts and glossy smoke screen media releases. They are the ACE Radio Network, Super Radio Network and Nova, the latter with an extra popularity boost because of the grace and dignity of Nova 100 Melbourne’s Jase and Lauren, recruited from KIIS 101.1 when they were made redundant by Kyle and Jackie O. All three networks have had their people reach out saying that spirits and hopes are high, and they are looking forward to 2025.
Normally GfK Radio 360 Survey 8, out this Thursday December 12, is kind of like the week between Christmas and New Years Day. Most metro talent have disembarked. Smooth always excels as people take a step back from their fast paced lives to focus on 2025. Outside of cricket, most of the parochial Australian sports are in hibernation. Everything is just more chill.
This Survey 8 though will really matter as decisions that have already been made, or have yet to, are further assessed for their validity. Can Kyle and Jackie O end the year on a high? Who will host 2Day FM Breakfast in 2025? We still don’t know ANY of the Sydney talk morning presenters on 2GB, the ABC and 2SM and will WSFM stay No 1?
Radioinfo will have (some of) the answers on the 12th at 9:30am. There will be much more than usual watching.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.