Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s $200million Melbourne radio takeover delayed – despite pushing out breakfast team Jase & Lauren last year
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson have postponed their Melbourne launch until after Easter, despite signing the historic $200 million deal in November.
The radio duo plan to acquire Melbourne Breakfast Airwaves as part of their final 10-year deal with KIIS FM, but they are taking their time.
Despite pushing already established KIIS FM Melbourne breakfast team Jase & Lauren into the arms of Nova last year, Kyle, 52, and Jackie O, 49, won’t be moving south until after Easter, reported The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.
Insiders told the publication that the popular radio hosts have pushed back their launch date by six weeks until they complete the behind-the-scenes work at their Sydney headquarters.
The report comes just a few weeks after Kyle revealed on air when The Kyle and Jackie O Show will launch in Melbourne.
Kyle Sandilands, 52, (left) and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, 49, (right) have postponed their Melbourne launch until after Easter despite signing the historic $200 million deal in November
On a show early last month, a caller asked when Kyle and co-host Jackie O would finally launch in Melbourne, saying: “We need some decent radio here.”
Kyle, who has previously declined to confirm the launch date, replied: “Six weeks.”
It comes months after Sydney-based Kyle and Jackie O signed a record-breaking $200 million, 10 years live on air deal, keeping them on air until 2034.
The radio duo are set to take over Melbourne’s breakfast waves as part of their latest 10-year deal with KIIS FM, but they’re taking their time
In November, an ARN spokesperson confirmed to Ny Breaking Australia that the deal for the Sydney duo meant their work friends Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips were unemployed and their Melbourne breakfast show ended in December.
Lauren broke down in tears as she announced the news to her listeners, sobbing that she “didn’t want to say goodbye to Melbourne.”
Jase and Lauren’s show was successful for KIIS FM, attracting new listeners to the station and ranking third in the Melbourne market behind Fox FM’s Fifi, Fev & Nick and GOLD104.3’s Christian O’Connell.
Despite pushing already established KIIS FM Melbourne breakfast team Jase & Lauren (both pictured) into the arms of Nova last year, Kyle and Jackie O will not move south until after Easter, The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.
In a statement celebrating the historic contract extension, Kyle said: “Fans of the show will be pleased to hear that this ten-year deal is the longest radio deal in Australian history.
“Love us or loathe us, Jackie and I will continue with our politically incorrect nonsense for a long time to come.
‘We want to thank the listeners. Staff. All clients. Even senior management, I’ll give a nod to that. They’ve actually done something brilliant.’
The duo will dominate markets beyond their Sydney audience, expanding their reach into Melbourne for the first time.