Kyle Sandilands may have threatened to pull The Kyle & Jackie O Show from Melbourne on Wednesday morning, but it seems the shock jock is now here to stay following a huge ratings win in the city.
The KIIS FM breakfast radio show, which under-performed in the Victorian capital during its multimillion dollar expansion last year, has had nothing but wins in the 2025 ratings war so far.
After a 0.1 per cent increase in market share during survey one, Sydney’s hit duo Kyle, 53, and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson landed another 0.7 per cent of the Melbourne audience in the GfK survey two which released on Thursday.
Kyle originally told his Victorian listeners on Wednesday morning he had no plans to ‘super serve Melbourne and ignore our Sydney audience’ to increase ratings in the south.
‘You either glue on in Melbourne or you [expletive]. One or the other. Here’s something I haven’t even discussed with Jackie… if we don’t rate better by the end of this year, I’m pulling the carpet out,’ he threatened.
‘I’ll just take the show off Melbourne… We’re not just going to suck Melbourne off all day, every day.’
Kyle Sandilands, 53, may have threatened to pull The Kyle & Jackie O Show from Melbourne on Wednesday morning, but it seems the shock jock is now here to stay following a huge ratings win in the city
Whether it was Kyle’s expletive-filled threat, or The Kyle & Jackie O Show’s recently successful local broadcast at St Kilda Beach, the Sydney show has now achieved the biggest Breakfast market share growth in the latest survey.
While the show seems to be in a steady incline, now sitting at a 5.8 per cent market share, Kyle and Jackie, 50, still have a ways to go before they reach the top of the scoreboard in Melbourne.
AM still reigns supreme in overall Melbourne breakfast radio with Nine’s talkback station 3AW, though the show has taken a hit this survey with a 1.8 per cent drop to 18.8.
Gold 104.3’s The Christian O’Connell Show is still barely holding onto the FM Breakfast lead at 10.8, down 0.7.
Meanwhile, Kyle and Jackie’s rivals ex-KIIS FM stars Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins and Lauren Phillips are fighting to get back into the FM lead with their Nova 100 show, now sitting at 10.2, up 0.1 per cent.
Former number one show Fifi, Fev and Nick at Fox FM has lost yet another point, dropping down to 8.3 from 8.4 last survey in a steady decline.
Triple M’s Mick in the Morning with Roo, Titus and Rosie and smoothfm 91.5 have switched places, with Triple M dropping by 0.6 to 7.3 as smoothfm slides in with 7.6, up 0.1 per cent.
This leaves Kyle and Jackie to move up a place to 5.8, taking over ABC Melbourne on AM, which has dropped by 0.7 to 5.6.
The KIIS FM breakfast radio show, which under-performed in the Victorian capital during its multimillion dollar expansion last year, has had nothing but wins in the 2025 ratings war so far
While the dynamic duo continue to claw their way up the leader board in Melbourne, the Sydney juggernauts are still reigning supreme in FM Breakfast in their hometown with a market share lead of 12.3 percent.
‘Fifty consecutive surveys at number one in Sydney is an extraordinary achievement and a true reflection of Kyle and Jackie O’s enduring connection with their audience,’ ARN’s Chief Content Officer Duncan Campbell said.
‘While the show continues to dominate in its home market, we’re seeing positive signs in Melbourne, with two consecutive surveys showing strong increases in both awareness and audience.
‘This consistent growth since January is clear evidence that our strategy is working. We remain confident in the strength of the brand and the content.’
Last year, Kyle and Jackie took their radio show to Melbourne in a huge multimillion dollar expansion deal.
The move triggered the axing of Jase and Lauren’s own KIIS FM breakfast show, which Sandilands said he was indifferent about.
‘No, I don’t care. That’s why we went for Melbourne, we were like, “We’ve given this Jase and Lauren on KIIS FM a good run, it can’t get over fourth in the radio ratings, so we’ll take it,”‘ he told news.com.au at the time.
He added The Kyle & Jackie O Show was moved to Melbourne because it was a ‘market in trouble’ and their program could help regain listeners.
Sydney’s hit duo Kyle, 53, and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson landed a 0.7 per cent increase of the Melbourne audience in GfK survey two which released on Thursday, but they’re still a few spots behind rivals Jason ‘Jase’ Hawkins and Lauren Phillips
However, Jackie took a different approach, adding that while she didn’t like competitors being axed it was the unfortunate reality of the business.
‘No one ever wants to move someone out of a job. I wouldn’t want that to happen to me. It’s a double edged sword, it really is,’ she said.
But Kyle and Jackie struggled to capture the Melbourne market in their first year.
In November, Kyle vowed to reduce the graphic sexual content on his KIIS FM radio show in 2025 to appeal to the Melbourne audience more broadly.
In a bid to make a dent in the market, Campbell said Kyle will have to dial back on the ‘smut’ and inappropriate on-air remarks.
‘The sexual content was really a small part of the show,’ he told Mumbrella at the time.
‘Because it was graphic, it grabbed everyone’s attention – but [Kyle’s] taken that off, really. It’s still sexual content. But not the graphic sexual content that it once was.’
Campbell also told the outlet Kyle ‘came to the table’ with toning down on the graphic content.
‘He agreed to do that, which was a real positive,’ he added.
‘And, I mean, he wants to win in Melbourne. There’s no doubt about that.’
Elsewhere, the CCO also promised their marketing tactics will be ‘less brash and unapologetic’.
‘We believe, with the removal of the graphic sexual content, the show’s much, much easier to listen to now,’ he said.
It seems the move has paid off.
