The end of the Kyle and Jackie O Show, whose hosts had a combined A$200m contract, has shocked the media industry.
1 hour ago
Lana LamSydney
Supplied
It happens in offices around the world everyday: a workmate accusing another - rightly or wrongly - of not pulling their weight.
But it's not often broadcast live on air to millions of listeners tuning into one of Australia's longest-running breakfast radio programmes.
That's what happened about a fortnight ago on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, when shock jock Kyle Sandilands launched into a seven-minute tirade against his co-host Jackie "O" Henderson.
The very public spat has brought an end to the pair's 27-year history on the airwaves, rocking the Australian media industry.
The high-rating show has been canned, egos have been bruised and fans left in tears while a legion of detractors rejoice that a prime-time show sold on the promise of crude and crass content has finally ended.
"The era of the shock jocks is over," says Jennie Hill, founder of an activist group that targets controversial media personalities - including Sandilands - by asking companies to stop advertising on their programmes.
"Kyle was the last one from a bygone era. There are a few others who are questionable but there are none who are anywhere near as offensive as him."
The beginning of the end started in a fairly mundane way.
"Your fixation on this has made you almost unworkable," Sandilands remarked almost two weeks ago on 20 February.
He was accusing Henderson of being "off with the fairies" as she looked up the astrology birth chart for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who had hours earlier been arrested in the UK on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Sandilands, 54, claimed her recent interest in horoscopes and star signs had led to a noticeable shift in her work.
"You're not doing the rest of the job and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me," he declared, dismissing Henderson's request for examples of his allegations.
She defended herself, saying his claims were "mean and nasty" and a "total attack".
"I would never do something like that to you on air like that," she said through tears, adding that if he was unhappy with her performance, "get someone else".
The 51-year-old took a leave of absence and Sandilands told listeners his on-air partner would be back on the airwaves soon.
But, for a show that dabbled in a grey area of broadcasting standards - it attracted many warnings but few punishments over its vulgar and sexually explicit content - its end was black and white.
"Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she 'cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands'," an investor announcement from ARN Media - the owner of KIIS FM - declared on Tuesday.
As a result, they tore up her 10-year A$100m (US$70m; £52m) contract - signed in 2024 - and confirmed she was to be offered a possible new show.
Sandilands was hit with a claim of "serious misconduct" over his on-air rant and given 14 days to "remedy this breach" of his contract or risk his own $100m deal being cancelled.
In a statement on Friday, Henderson said she "did not quit or resign" and that she was saddened and shocked by news of the show ending.
"At this stage, I am unable to say anything further, as I am addressing this through the appropriate legal channels," she said.
Sandilands was contacted for comment, but did not reply.
Many in the industry were blindsided by the announcement, as some observers had branded the public tiff a stunt to boost poor ratings in Melbourne, where an attempt to expand their Sydney show had failed.
A key part of the pair's combined A$200m deal included an ambitious plan to bring their show to other Australian capital cities, with an assumption that one show replicated to other markets would mean fewer people on the payroll.
But when advertiser revenue began to fall and their much-touted entry into the lucrative Melbourne market did not deliver, the pair's pricey deal came at the expense of other staff at the network, with dozens of experienced people let go to balance the books, according to local media.
Getty
"The story is a significant one in Australia as both enjoy tremendous visibility and as they've been working together for so long," says Peter Roberts, who lectures in media and communications at the University of New South Wales.
Their partnership was successful because they had distinctive roles to play.
"Kyle was instrumental in the shocking, while Jackie was more the voice of conscience and moderation."
That mix appealed to their main audience, Roberts said, made up of listeners aged between 20 and 45 years, although the show also attracted a strong following among under-18s, with an overall even split between men and women.
But their failed attempt to capture the Melbourne market shows how their style "doesn't transcend to other parts of the country".
"The breakfast slot is wildly competitive, and listeners are loyal to local players in the market, so it's no great surprise that they didn't pull in the audience share in Melbourne, as they had in Sydney."
Over the years, the show has attracted much controversy. In 2009, the show was investigated after a 14-year-old girl was asked about her sexual history while strapped to a lie detector, forcing her to admit she had been raped when she was 12.
Another time the pair told a Cambodian-Australian woman they would bring her niece to Australia but send the niece back if she did not correctly choose the door she was standing behind. The woman chose the wrong door, broke down in tears and begged for her niece to be allowed to stay, which the show agreed to.
Online reaction to the end of the Kyle and Jackie O show has see-sawed from fans in shock that their much-loved morning dose of crude jokes - often at the expense of women and minority groups - has ended, while others welcomed the news.
Among those smiling is Hill, who about ten years ago founded activist group MFW -members of which refer to themselves as "the witches" after the term former opposition leader Peter Dutton used for a female journalist in a text message sent by mistake.
About two years ago, the group launched a campaign called VileKyle - mirroring an earlier campaign focused on veteran broadcaster Alan Jones - where a team of about 30 volunteers would listen to every show.
"They'd write down the advertisers and the demeaning quotes with timestamps," Hill said, in a bid to stamp out "violent misogyny" in the media.
Every week, that information would be shared with the group's estimated 200,000 members, who would take it upon themselves to email companies asking them to pull their advertising from the show.
Some examples included Sandilands using homophobic and racial language, women being described on the show as "it" or "that" as sex with them was discussed.
Supplied
Hill maintains that healthy conversations about sex and sexuality are a good thing but "repeated putdowns" of certain groups is not.
Since the campaign, Hill says about 2,000 companies have pulled their ads from the show, listing major Australian brands such as Qantas, national telecoms company Telstra and supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths as examples. Global brands who have also pulled advertising include Cathay Pacific and AirAsia.
It's uncertain when Sandilands or Henderson will be back on the airwaves, but Hill says her message to the former is crystal clear.
"You need to either reform yourself and understand what you do, or you need to just leave the media alone, one or the other."
Elsewhere, loyal Sydney fans took to social media to share their reaction to the news.
"Noooo, I'm a fan...haven't they been through worse than this? So sad," posted one.
Another said she had been listening to their show since she was 13 and would miss hearing their voices in the morning: "Have I agreed with everything Kyle or Jackie has said or done over the years? No. Some of it I really didn't like. But it's still disappointing that it's come to an end for the duo".
This piece has been updated to take out descriptions of some of the more controversial segments of the show
As the world’s largest oil and gas importer, China undoubtedly faces a significant disruption, what with the US-Israeli war on Iran and its cascading impact across the Gulf. But it could have been worse. Beijing has worked unstintingly for well over a decade to build energy self-reliance and reduce
Lai was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail last month on charges for sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
—
China’s 15th five-year plan lays out a comprehensive set of quantitative socio-economic development targets, ranging from innovation to food and energy security. To navigate external volatility and sluggish domestic demand, Beijing has built in flexibility by allowing specific economic and innovatio