Tomorrow morning, Friday June 19, at the breakfast radio appropriate time of 6am, an episode of the Game Changers Radio podcast will be released, featuring an interview with Kyle Sandilands.
You might think that the discussion would be a breakdown of the news we already know, that Kyle and ARN have settled with Kyle receiving $12.09 million, $3 million payable in July 2026, the balance payable monthly until June 2029 and some other perks potentially for both parties, but, in typical Kyle fashion he has kept a couple of aces up his sleeve.
news.com.au got some scoops prior to the episode. One was citrus flavoured:
“I’ve been working on getting their (One Nation‘s) messaging across, which I think has been well received.
She’s (Pauline Hanson) one of my favourite people now.”
Kyle is apparently “loving the orange wave”, introducing Pauline to some of his mates but “not my gangster friends, just more of the upper society types who have also expressed a great interest in her messaging.”
If that is the tip of the icecream cone in terms of scoops for tomorrow’s episode, what more is there to come?
There was a a further tidbit that Kyle and Jackie O, who today continued her proceedings against ARN to the next stage, a hearing, in the Sydney Federal Court, were lightly back in contact. Kyle felt optimistic that there was a path to repair and reconciliation in the future.
With just these two bits of information on the table now, there is already much to unpack.
The new Kyle show, potentially called Kyle Sandilands Live and looking to be released to capture the breakfast audience, looks quite a different proposition with any alliance with One Nation.
What a payback to the ACMA, for whom podcasts are beyond the realm of their regulations, and the MFW who targeted the advertisers and supporters of both the Kyle and Jackie O show and One Nation.
Such a show could have implications later under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, but with no Federal Election looming, not for a while yet.
And what of ARN’s deal that sees Kyle’s new project get advertising on ARN’s partner platforms to the value of $1,500,000 over the next three years? The Kyle Sandilands Show, brought to you by One Nation might then fall foul of ACMA on commercial radio. The parties also agreed to a net revenue share arrangement, providing ARN a contribution of 19.9% from Kyle’s new venture for a period of up to three years from commencement, subject to agreed revenue thresholds and caps. That deal might eventually be investigated under various codes of practice or electoral comission rules, depending on who Kyle’s backers are too.
The final question, for tonight, before I break out the popcorn nice and early Friday morning, is who is the audience now for Kyle’s new show?
The Digital News Report: Australia 2026 that came out this week showed that young people are increasingly interested in news and political news, but news avoidance also remains high. Kyle and Jackie O had discussed /disagreed in the past over how much Kyle was interested in politics and particularly US politics vs how little Jackie was.
What Kyle is still missing is that Jackie contribution. Hence why I also think he’s spoken, again, so glowingly about her and clearly stated he will do or say nothing against her.
Building a bridge or opening the door?
Whatever else is to be said on the Game Changers Radio podcast Friday morning, what a canny operator Kyle Sandilands is. Those who have their own news avoidance symptoms will be quite sick of the coverage he gets here and other places. But Kyle Sandilands keeps bringing gifts to the table – ones that may change the very nature of podcasting sponsorship and advertising in the future.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]. You can subscribe to this publication for just $199 per annum (less for community stations, students and pensioners) and support local media. Celebrate Radioinfo in its 30th year.
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