Look to your left. And now to your right. Statistically speaking, one of those people listens to Kyle and Jackie O in the mornings.
Now, that sentence isn’t ~technically~ true, but the reality isn’t too far off. The final ratings period for Sydney‘s coveted Breakfast Radio slot has come to a close and the results are in. In short? A shitload of people still listen to Kyle and Jackie on Kiis FM for whatever godforsaken reason.
It seems the FM radio “dream” “team” has managed to close the year out with an 11.3% share of the market, scooping the grand world of FM, and running second in the total radio market stakes to AM juggernaut Alan Jones, who maintained a 14.8% share of the market, and in doing so secured his 101st consecutive first place ranking in the ratings surveys.
Or, in simpler, headache-inducing terms – of all the people who listen to breakfast radio in Sydney, one in four willingly chooses to listen to Kyle Sandilands, Jackie O, or Alan Jones.
You might remember (slash have yet been able to forget) that Kyle and Jackie made the jump from previous employer and imposer of two strikes 2DayFM at the start of the year, moving across to the rebranded Kiis in what was, at the time, seen as something of a bold move. In the murky world of broadcast radio, it’s now being heralded as a stroke of demented genius, with their regular listeners remarkably able to work the dials on their radio tuners to follow them across stations in droves.
Whereas back on the now olde time western ghost town that is 2Day, the replacement trio of Merrick Watts, Jules Lund and Mel B failed to fire, with both B, and Sophie Monk, walking out on the job within the year. Current Drive hosts Maz Compton and Dan Debuf slated to take over the Breakfast slot early next year.
As for how the industry might fare in the coming years, Craig Bruce from 2DayFM’s owning company Southern Cross Austereo had a fairly frank, and let’s say shady, assessment.
“If Kyle and Jac are still the number one FM pop radio show in Sydney in 10 years, the industry is screwed.“
If these numbers are anything to go by, we could be in for a long decade.
Photo: Ryan Pierse via Getty Images.
via SMH.
