Why former Kyle and Jackie O boss warns KIIS FM faces ‘carnage’ after axing of Sandilands and Henderson

The departure of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson from KIIS FM is going to cause ‘carnage’ at the station, the radio star’s former boss has revealed. 

The Kyle and Jackie O Show is no more after the termination of both Henderson and Sandilands’ $100 million contracts, and that could spell disaster, Craig Bruce said on Thursday. 

Bruce, who worked with the stars as their program director for a decade during their reign at 2Day FM, tells the Game Changers Radio podcast that devoted listeners will turn away. 

Pointing to the fallout from the cancellation of the Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones breakfast show on Gold, Bruce says KIIS could face a similar ratings drop. 

‘When a new show replaces a heritage show – Amanda and Jonesy had 20 years together – there is carnage. And there will be carnage,’ Bruce said. 

Another industry insider, former head of Triple M Mike Fitzpatrick, agrees. 

The departure of Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson from KIIS FM is going to cause ‘carnage’ at the station, the radio star’s former boss has revealed. Both pictured 

‘There’s going to be some portion of the audience that’s fundamentally a dial position habit listener, not a K and J-specific loyal listener,’ he said.

‘Which is why they’ll follow K and J, and if K and J turn up on podcast or a YouTube channel, their devoted listeners will go looking for them.’ 

The Australian Radio Network (ARN) terminated Sandilands’ KIIS FM contract on Tuesday night in a bombshell move against the radio host, following his on-air blow-up with Henderson.

Radio ratings were not on the duo’s side prior to the axing. 

Results from the first radio survey of the year show the now-defunct The Kyle & Jackie O Show lost fans in Sydney and finished in a dismal eighth place in Melbourne behind rivals Jase & Lauren on Nova 100.

Jackie’s abrupt departure on February 20, following her on-air blow-up with her co-host, likely influenced the fall in numbers.

In the survey period between January 18 and February 28, Jackie was off air for a solid week before the show lost 60,000 listeners. 

Still, the former duo managed to end their careers at KIIS FM in second spot in the Sydney market with a 12.7 per cent share, with 2GB’s Ben Fordham topping the survey by four percentage points.

The Kyle and Jackie O Show is no more after the termination of both Henderson and Sandilands’ $100 million contracts, and that could spell disaster, Craig Bruce (pictured) said 

Pointing to the fallout from the cancellation of the Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones (both pictured) breakfast show on Gold, Bruce says KIIS could face a similar ratings drop.

In Melbourne, The Kyle & Jackie O Show gained some traction in the ratings in a market where they have struggled since making their debut there nearly two years ago.

According to the survey, they gained 0.1 percentage point which gave them a not-so-impressive 5.1 per cent of the market. 

Their cumulative audience in Melbourne was just 403,000 listeners.

Over on Nova 100, their arch rivals Jason Hawkins and Lauren Phillips’ breakfast show leapt into second spot, jumping 2.2 per cent to land an 11.1 market share.

Meanwhile, 3AW’s Breakfast with Ross and Russel show led the Melbourne market with an 18.9 share.

The end of The Kyle & Jackie O Show was announced on Wednesday when Kyle released a statement at 7am on Wednesday announcing that KIIS’ parent company, Australian Radio Network, had terminated his 10-year, $100 million contract.

Just an hour after his bombshell statement, news.com.au reported that ARN chief executive Michael Stephenson sent an email to staff announcing that The Kyle & Jackie O Show had been axed.