A senior source at Southern Cross Austereo has slammed the slant that some media outlets have taken regarding the departure of Kevin Best and John Dickson by linking their exit to a slump in advertiser support following Kyle Sandilands’ now infamous outburst in November last year.

Best and Dickson are executive directors of Heard Creative, an in-house “ad agency” for SCA clients that they set up about 12 years ago.

Although news that they had accepted severance packages was released on the same day that Bulla Dairy Foods announced that they would join the list of advertisers boycotting the Kyle and Jackie O Breakfast show, SCA insists that the two events are unrelated.

Throughout the Sandilands saga, SCA has refused to provide a running commentary with CEO Rhys Holleran making just one public statement on the issue, confirming that the organisation will stand by Kyle.

Neither Best nor Dickson have been available for comment.