Mix 101.1 rebrands as KIIS, Hughesy and Kate confirmed for drive

The buzz and speculation has been rife, and now Australian Radio Network has officially confirmed that Hughesy & Kate, will be driving listeners home on the KIIS and MixFM Network in 2015.

Next year will also mark the much anticipated extension of ARN’s hugely successful KIIS brand beyond Sydney to Melbourne.

As ARN firmly sets its sights on shaking things up in 2015, the new look drive team, and the rebrand, is aimed to “take Melbourne by storm.”

Hughesy & Kate will be heard on the newly rebranded KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne in addition to KIIS 1065 in Sydney, 97.3FM in Brisbane and Mix 102.3 in Adelaide.

Hughesy & Kate developed a loyal audience base in Melbourne during their 12-year breakfast show on Nova. “The duo will also be bringing a fresh, new dynamic to the drive slot for new audiences in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide,” says ARN.

Great friends both on and off the air, Hughesy & Kate are one of radio’s all-time great partnerships. The pair started on air together in Melbourne in 2001 and during more than a decade behind the breakfast microphone, Hughesy & Kate shared everything from the fun and oddities of the everyday, through to milestones like weddings and the birth of their children.

Between “Hughesy’s laid back, Aussie bloke outlook and Kate’s smart, fearless and sassy take on the world,” Hughesy & Kate should achieve the hoped for market shake up, but they will be up against the successful Nova national drive team Tim, Marty and Kate and also up against proven Melbourne market performer Jules Lund for the forst half of the year and Hamish and Andy from July.

ARN’s Chief Executive Ciaran Davis says of the new appointments: “It’s no secret that at ARN we continue to attract and retain Australia’s best talent. We have the two best breakfast shows in Sydney with Kyle & Jackie O on KIIS 1065 and Jonesy & Amanda on WS FM101.7 and the number one breakfast shows in Brisbane and Adelaide. We now have our sights set on extending the success of our Breakfast shows to the Drive slot nationally from January 2015.

“After several years of successful growth, the extension of the KIIS brand to Melbourne is yet another strong step forward for the entire network. Our strategy is focused on creating great content for our audiences across multiple channels, while delivering advertisers the most effective and integrated multi-platform media offering.”

National Content Director Duncan Campbell  believes Hughesy & Kate “are brilliant radio talent who have enjoyed great success, and audiences in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are going to love their new drive show, while Hughesy & Kate’s loyal fan base in Melbourne will get to hear them on a fresh, new station next year.”

Rosso will not continue on the air with ARN in 2015. Rosso joined ARN in 2011 hosting Mix 106.5’s breakfast show and moved to drive in 2012 on KIIS 1065 in Sydney and Mix101.1 in Melbourne. “All at ARN thank Rosso for sharing his exceptional talent with our listeners and wish him all the best on his next project,” said Campbell.

As a footnote to this story, readers may recall the name dispute with norrowcaster Kiss FM in Melbourne. That will not be a problem for the KIIS brand after the two parties settled it confidentially earlier this year. An ARN spokesperson has told radioinfo: “As per the confidential agreement reached in February 2014, ARN’s KIIS brand will mutually coexist with Kiss FM in Australia.”
 

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