Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson are on track to sign a monster $200 million radio deal, which would see them remain on-air until 2034.
News.com.au understands the co-hosts’ current station, Australian Radio Network, have verbally agreed to the pair’s record-breaking 10-year contract terms, but a bidding war has broken out as rival network Southern Cross Austereo are also eager to sign them on the same deal.
Now, it comes down to which network can offer them more.
A source close to The Kyle and Jackie O Show told us the pair were leaning toward staying with ARN, with hopes a deal will officially be signed next month.
It would see the powerful duo earning $10 million each per year, which is double their current salary of around $5 million per year, with bonuses and incentives nudging them up to a $6 million annual salary.
A source with inside knowledge of the deal said the $10 million figure was a “base salary”, with potential for the pair to earn even more.
The clincher in choosing a network, for Sandilands and Henderson, is whoever can offer them the most listeners, with the pair wanting to take their show nationwide. Currently, their popular breakfast program only airs on KIIS FM in Sydney.
Sandilands has long been transparent about his desire to tap into the Melbourne radio market, with Brendan Fevola dropping on-air last month he’d heard a rumour the Sydney pair were set to air their show in the capital city from next year.
The co-host of Fox FM’s Fifi, Fev & Nick – which is owned by SCA – told listeners in August he had received a phone call from someone who works in the radio industry confirming the news.
“He said, ‘You might have competition next year. Someone in our city is now gonna be in Melbourne,’” Fevola recalled. “Kyle and Jackie!”
Fevola made his feelings known right away, insisting the Sydney-based duo wouldn’t work as a breakfast show in Melbourne.
“That’s not the right DNA,” the former AFL star said. “That’s a Sydney show. Surely they’re not coming to Melbourne … What the hell?”
Sandilands and Henderson’s stipulations to take over the breakfast timeslot in various cities would see a number of radio hosts out of the job, no matter which network they go for.
Currently, ARN’s KIIS Network airs Jase & Lauren in the breakfast timeslot in Melbourne, while SCA’s Hit Network airs 2DayFM with Dave Hughes, Erin Molan and Ed Kavalee in Sydney.
The pair were previously with SCA but left the network in 2013 after disagreements over contracts.
News.com.au has contacted SCA and ARN for comment.
In an interview back in 2021, Sandilands told news.com.au he thought ARN should ditch the local breakfast shows in each city and broadcast his program instead.
“Why wouldn’t you network this breakfast show?” he said at the time.
“I think whoever is running the whole joint here mustn’t be the full quid if they don’t realise: You’re paying a lot of money, the show’s clearly number one, way out in front of everyone else. So if I was running it, it would be a different story.”
Sandilands and Henderson’s current deal, which they signed in 2019, finishes at the end of 2024.
If their newly proposed contract eventuates, it would signal the biggest deal in Australian media history.
The dynamic pair, who first began their hosting partnership together more than 20 years ago, continued their dominance in the latest round of radio ratings which were released in July.
They are currently the number one FM rated breakfast show in Sydney with a 17.1 per cent audience share
For context, their nearest FM competitor is WSFM’s Jonesy & Amanda who have a 7.7 per cent audience share.