“This is the new official Kyle and Jackie O Facebook page – sadly, our old one has been hijacked by 2DayFM and we are still fighting hard to get it back!” says the message on Kyle and Jackie’s KIIS facebook page.
When they joined ARN, Austereo contended that their old facebook page was part of the property they created while working for Austereo, so, like their on air work, Austereo had the rights to keep it. This is comon legal practice in most employment agreements.
ARN and Kyle and Jackie don’t agree however, and are trying to take back the ownership of ‘their’ facebook page.
Meanwhile, they have begun a new page, which gained over 7000 likes within a couple of hours of going up today (Sunday) and had almost 13,000 likes by the end of the day.
The first message on that page says:
Just so you know, 2DayFM are trying to sneakily change the name of our old Kyle and Jackie O Facebook page to their new breakfast show without you knowing.
We’ve always believed that when you “like” someone’s page on Facebook, it’s actually because of that particular person, group or show, not the parent company they work for.
So, if you suddenly start getting all these posts from a Facebook page you never “liked” you know why.
The post advises fans to “feel free to let [Austereo] know if you think they’re out of line and then tell them to go get their own Facebook followers ;)” and says, “hopefully, Facebook will see sense and give us our page back, but in the meantime, we will keep you up to date on this page.” Then the message promos the new show:
Now on to the really important stuff:
Only EIGHT more sleeps to go!
Monday 20th Jan we are back on air on a BRAND NEW station – KIIS 1065 – and we can’t wait! We have SOOOO much to tell you…
Love you guys and thanks for all of your support.
Kyle and Jackie x
Fans responding to the post are generally supportive to K&J, with messages including this one from Matthew Goodyear:
let them keep their false numbers. We have a chance to do something great here..build a massive following off our own backs! We dont need to steal from anyone. Most people found out about this page 1 hour ago and we have nearly 3000 followers. Thats in 1 hour. 2day had 150k and thats from over many years. They didnt earn those numbers, Kyle and Jackie did. Tweet the fb link, share it on your walls…hell, go behind enemy lines and spread the word. Just remember, they needed 4 people and a weeks head start and a stolen FB page to even challenge Kyle and Jackie.
The majority of messages are positive, but not all of them, including this one from Nathan Swales:
Go Triple M in the morning, at least u get a laugh out of it. Not like these clowns bahahaha!
Perhaps revealing some of the artists KIIS will be playing, K&J’s facebook page has liked a number of high profile stars, including:
Meanwhile, the battle is getting dirty, with Kyle and Jackie having a real good go at their old employer in a Sunday Telegraph article today, including:
“I promised myself I wouldn’t s***can them,” Sandilands said in the duo’s first sit-down since switching camps. “But they’ve really f…ed it. And there’s been all this talk of; ‘Oh, they wanted us out and they wanted us fired’. That’s bulls**t. They lost $200 million off their share price the day we announced we were (leaving).
“No one is going to do that on purpose.”
And the normally convivial Henderson also took a jab, saying there was no truth to reports it was Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) who pulled the pin on their show, which topped Sydney’s FM market for 52 consecutive ratings surveys.
“They really never thought we’d leave … never leave 2Day FM,” Henderson said. “And I heard that from a very good source. That’s why they had to quickly pull together something…”
He also joked that anyone who continued to listen to the 2Day FM show from now on would be: “Trapped in an iron lung with no control over their bodily movements.” “It’s just gonna be a disaster,” he said. “I’m so sorry, but I totally believe that. I think we will take all of our listeners … that’s what I so arrogantly believe.
Sandilands also took aim at his old content boss Guy Dobson who recently labelled Kyle and Jackie O as “out of date” in a newspaper interview. “Guy Dobson is a f…wit…”
Not surprisingly, Sandilands saved his biggest serve for Watts who made headlines recently claiming it was SCA who made the decision to axe the Kyle and Jackie O show.
“Poor old Merrick over there, running around and telling everyone I got fired,” Sandilands said. “Well, now he is going to experience the same old s*** bricks that we had to, day in and day out. And I don’t think that team will get on. Because Merrick is a f…head.”
One twitter follower posted a photo of the newly refitted KIIS studios at ARN’s North Ryde headquarters.
Kyle and Jackie say the new show will have a similar, but ‘fresher,’ format as their old ‘Breakfast with the Stars’ on 2Day, and are hoping to achieve 9% in their first survey. At 2Day the show was rating 10% of the breakfast audience.
In response to some of Kyle’s negative publicity, Austereo’s Clive Dickens posted this message on his facebook page, linking to a piece in the SMH about 2Day’s new show.
In related news, 2Day has appointed former Mix 106.5 Content Director Ryan Rathbone as assistant CD at 2Day. Rathbone was axed by ARN to make room for Derek Bargwanna to come over to the new KIIS station, along with Kyle and Jackie.
I just looked at my drivers licence to see if my name was a pseudonym...