James Cridland

Kyle and Jackie O - a damp squib? Or just poor-quality smut?

Melbourne Rain

In Australia, Kyle and Jackie O’s simulcast into Melbourne has - so far - failed to take Melbourne by storm.

Some in radio are keen to point out that syndicated shows don’t work in breakfast, where radio needs to be local. I’d disagree with that. Syndicated shows can, of course, work across any country. The fact that “this is coming from Sydney” is no reason why someone shouldn’t want to tune in, if the content is “real and relevant”: real human beings, talking about things that are relevant to the audience. You don’t have to be from the studio above the pizza shop in the high street to do that. (The show still contains local news and travel).

Indeed, this Reddit thread about Australian breakfast radio is notable that, deep into the comments, Hamish and Andy gets a lot of love. They were real and relevant; they connected with their audience - but they were from Melbourne, syndicated across Australia. (As is every afternoon drive show). Despite what people will tell you, “local” isn’t a thing people want: “relevancy” is, and that can be local, but it can also be other things too.

One of the reasons why Kyle & Jackie O has yet to work is that expectations were too high. The show was expected to be an instant success because it’s the #1 FM breakfast show in Sydney. Back in January 2014, the show shifted from Sydney’s 2DAY to KIIS - taking its #1 FM status with it in a shock survey. People were expecting similar. But, radio numbers don’t work like that for the rest of the year: K&J started mid-survey on April 29. Their current numbers still aren’t entirely theirs: made from surveys from Apr 14-Jun 22.

Not only that, but Kyle and Jackie O’s main show has never been heard in Melbourne. A heavily-edited version has been heard in the early evening, true, but never the “normal” breakfast show. It’ll take a while to grow its audience.

But another part of the reason for that is that the show has seemingly changed from a quality show with big stunts and even bigger guests, into something that is “abusive, foul-mouthed and obnoxious” - not me, but Paul Barry of ABC MediaWatch - there are some clips on that website (which are astonishingly awful). The show has to run its own censor, because Kyle can’t be trusted to toe the line - leading sometimes to extended amounts of tone. And, perhaps, it’s the lazy smut which will be its downfall - not Sydney.

(Image: Lennon Cheng, of Swanston Street in Melbourne)

RCS

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