Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson‘s former content director has made a dark prediction about their future in radio.
Craig Bruce, who was program director at 2DayFM during the duo’s decade-long reign at the station, told nine.com.au it’s unlikely they will be on air, either together or seperately, for at least “two to three years” in the wake of recent legal developments.
He says the matter of their 10-year, $200 million contract with ARN – the parent company of KIIS FM – will likely head to court and could take years to conclude.
“I think they’ll go to court, they’ll try a settlement where they can retrieve some of the money from their contract – that’s going to take a couple of years,” Bruce said.
“So I think there’s a world where we won’t hear either of them, together or separately, on the radio for two or three years.”
On March 3, ARN Media released a statement saying they’d suspended Sandilands for two weeks after alleged “serious misconduct” following an on-air row with Henderson.
It said Henderson’s contract was terminated as she could no longer work with Sandilands, while he was warned his contract would be terminated if he did not respond to an allegation of serious misconduct within 14 days.
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Henderson later claimed that was not the full story, saying she had “did not quit or resign” and was addressing the matter through the correct legal channels.
On Tuesday, Sandilands released a a blistering statement claiming he was “not in breach” of his contract and asked ARN to let him return to his job on KIIS FM. He also said he was told not to speak to Henderson or his colleagues and claimed the matter could have been solved if he had been able to do so.
Bruce, who discovered the duo in 2004 and put them on the air, described Sandilands’ subsequent statement on March 10 as “an impassioned, emotional plea”.
“He wants them to allow him to speak to his audience again,” Bruce, who co-hosts the Game Changers Radio podcast, told nine.com.au.
“We’re talking to his audience every day on our podcast and through our Instagram feed, and they’re desperate to hear from him again.
“So I guess we’ll see what happens, but certainly that’s the most emotional I’ve seen Kyle in a written form in a very long time.”
In his statement, Sandilands expressed regret about the fall out of his relationship with Henderson and called her one of the most “important people” is his life.
Earlier in the day, there had been reports the pair were back in contact, but radio insiders have cast doubt on this.
Bruce said it “doesn’t matter a scrap” if they are in contact or not, calling headlines claiming the pair are back in touch “ridiculous”.
“Jackie’s contract was terminated, so they can talk as much as they want about doing a radio show. But it won’t be at KIIS FM, because she doesn’t have a services agreement with KIIS. So it won’t be there,” he said.
“They can talk about it until the cows come home, but they will have to go somewhere else to do a radio show.
“I think just based on their revenue history over the last few years… I don’t know that there’s going to be a radio company lining up for their services.”
Bruce said one thing is for sure; wherever Sandilands goes, activist group Mad F–king Witches (MFW) will follow.
Bruce and Game Changers co-host Irene Hulme, who also has a long history at Southern Cross Austereo, discussed the campaign at length in a recent podcast episode.
MFW launched a campaign in 2024 to convince advertisers to stop advertising on the Kyle & Jackie O show due to what they deemed offensive content and have been claiming credit for this recent turn of events.
“We should be having a conversation around whether an activist group can be that powerful,” Bruce said.
“But yeah, they are at the heart of this, and not enough people are talking about it.”
While it does sound as though Sandilands would like another chance at KIIS FM, whether that be with Henderson or not, Bruce said it’s unlikely as ARN has given “every indication they want to be rid of the show”.
Jackie O’ Henderson’s career in photos
“The building of the show is easy because he’s really good at radio,” Bruce said.
“There’s no problem with building a show and getting the content on there. It’s a question of – how do you monetise it?
“This is just all about money. It’s about revenue. You can have a large audience, but if you can’t take that audience to market it and monetise it, then it means nothing.”
Sandilands and Henderson were two years into 10-year combined $200m contracts that were due to run until 2034 when their on-air fight on February 20 ended the show prematurely.
“That’s where we’ve landed with this show, unfortunately,” Bruce added.
“It doesn’t make enough money, certainly not enough money for the ridiculous amounts of the salaries that ARN were paying. This was not sustainable.”
It isn’t known if the pair’s contracts included non-complete clauses, nor if those clauses are valid if ARN is the one to terminate their contracts.
READ KYLE SANDILANDS’ STATEMENT IN FULL:
I want to speak directly to my listeners, my colleagues and the public about what has been happening.
On 20 February, I had an argument with Jackie on air about something that had been bothering me for a while. I said things I wish I had said differently.
“That same evening, I sent Jackie a message telling her I was sorry for anything I said that didn’t go down well, that I love her and care for her, and that I could have handled it better.
“I meant every word of that, and I still do. Jackie and I have worked together for over 25 years. She is one of the most important people in my life. The idea that our partnership could end like this is devastating to me.
ARN told me that I am not allowed to contact Jackie. They have told me that I am not allowed to speak to my colleagues. I did what was asked even though it made it impossible for me to do the one thing anyone in my position would want to do — pick up the phone and talk to the person I have been talking with continually for my entire career.
The truth is that ARN terminated Jackie’s contract on the same day it accused me of a breach. It suspended me from work. All of this happened while I was being told to sit quietly and say nothing. That is not a genuine process.
I am not going to pretend that everything about this situation is simple. Jackie told me she was hurt, and I accept that. But we have had disagreements before and we have always worked through them. That is what partners do. We never needed lawyers or ASX announcements to sort things out. I believe we could have sorted this out too, if ARN had given us the chance.
I have a contract with ARN that runs until 2034.
I am committed to that contract.
Despite what ARN says, I am not in breach of that contract.
I want to be on air. I want to be with my audience. I want to do the job I have done my entire adult life.
I am asking ARN to do the right thing: honour our agreement and let me get back to doing what I do best — entertaining the people who have supported this show for more than two decades.
To my listeners: Thank you. I miss you. I’ll be back.
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