Nearly half of all complaints made within the final monetary yr about decency requirements on Australian radio had been about The Kyle & Jackie O Present, the Guardian can reveal.
Within the 2023-2024 monetary yr, 321 complaints had been made to radio stations throughout Australia about “material not suitable for broadcast”. Of those, 146 complaints (45%) had been about The Kyle & Jackie O Present.
Listeners who want to complain about materials broadcast on radio are required to first complain to the radio station. If complainants should not happy with the station’s response, they’ll then make a grievance to Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), which has the ability to research and sanction a present.
The numbers, shared with Guardian Australia, got here in response to questions on discover from Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Younger to Nerida O’Loughlin, the chair of the Acma.
The questions adopted Hanson-Younger quizzing O’Loughlin at a Senate estimates listening to in November, blasting the media regulator for failing to research “revolting” materials aired on the present, together with “sexist, racist [and] misogynistic” content material.
Through the listening to, O’Loughlin declined to learn aloud quotes from the radio present offered by Hanson-Younger, declaring she “would not think they were appropriate for parliamentary language”.
“The perpetuation of misogyny, racism and homophobia doesn’t belong on commercial radio or in our homes, workplaces or communities,” Hanson-Younger advised Guardian Australia this week.
The Kyle & Jackie O Present, hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson, has been operating for greater than 20 years and has been the highest score breakfast program within the Sydney marketplace for the final 47 rankings intervals. It has additionally been the supply of serious controversy.
The present, broadcast on Kiis FM, is getting ready to launch its 2025 season on Monday, with guarantees Sandilands and Henderson will tone down the offensive content material.
Billboards and buses round Melbourne are carrying seemingly tongue-in-cheek ads for the present, with the tagline: “Listen Now. We’re Behaving”, accompanied by a winking, tongue-poking-out emoji.
The present has tanked in Melbourne since its April 2024 launch within the Victorian capital. Kiis FM misplaced 130,000 listeners over the yr, and the present fell to eighth place within the breakfast time slot.
Consultants advised the Guardian a key cause for its lacklustre reception within the tightly held Melbourne radio market was the present’s sexual content material.
“They have been far too explicit with their content – it’s been unlistenable for anyone who shares a car ride with their children, which is the Kiis primary demographic,” Craig Bruce, host of Sport Changers Radio, mentioned late final yr.
after publication promotion
A Guardian Australia investigation documented segments over two weeks of listening to the present that mocked Asian folks and used derisive language about girls and descriptions of aggressive intercourse, together with Sandilands telling Henderson a person needs to be ready to “smash you anally” no matter her politics. Probably the most offensive content material concerned Sandilands, whereas Henderson typically supplied delicate protest to his feedback about girls and intercourse.
After the Guardian’s report, Sandilands boasted about with the ability to broadcast sexually express content material.
“Contrary to popular belief, everything on this show is Australian legal broadcast standard-worthy,” he mentioned on air in an obvious nod to Guardian Australia’s report. “Regardless of [bleeped] or the wackos [bleeped] ever listened or the [bleeped] disturbed, everything you hear is allowed. Just because the other pissants don’t do anything good, doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong.”
In a response to the Guardian’s investigation in November, an ARN spokesperson on the time mentioned the corporate was “committed to delivering content that meets both regulatory standards and audience expectations. We also regularly review our content and take on audience feedback.”
Regardless of the massive quantity of complaints made in opposition to The Kyle & Jackie O Present final yr to Kiis FM’s proprietor, ARN, only a few will probably make it to Acma.
Nonetheless, because the Guardian’s investigation revealed, only a fraction of complaints made to Acma about The Kyle & Jackie O Present had been investigated by the regulator. It launched three investigations between 2019 and 2023, which all resulted within the discovering of a breach. Only one resulted in an enforceable motion.
Acma revealed in its response to Hanson-Younger’s questions that it at the moment has three investigations open into The Kyle & Jackie O Present, one in every of which was launched on 18 November 2024, after the Senate estimates listening to.
ARN was contacted for remark.
