….that need to be answered. Or at least discussed. Let's kick off with today's editorial in News Ltd newspapers. In a story titled "King Kong Kyle's Uber-Ego", media journalist Marcus Casey writes….
FORMER Brisbane street kid Kyle Sandilands rose from a night time radio
brat hosting the Hot30 Countdown nine years ago to become a Sydney
shock-jock behemoth – and now someone who has disgusted a nation.
And much of the blame lies with 2DayFM and station owner Austereo, who have allowed the star's ego to rage out of control.
Even in 2000, Sandilands' ego could be a problem. Now it's reached
the point where he is unable to foresee potential disasters – of the
sort that might arise by asking a 14-year-old about her sex life.
As a result, Sandilands and co-host Jackie O have revolted a nation
and harmed the public image of Austereo and its national network of
Triple M, 2DayFM and Fox stations.
Austereo management has largely allowed it to happen. After years of
grinding away at executives with his "better" ideas, no-one now appears
capable of saying "no" to Sandilands or co-host Jackie O.
And Austereo's confused and limited response to the latest
Sandilands controversy – two short and vague statements in the past
week – indicates that the company hasn't quite worked out the
complexities of the gorilla-sized problem it's created.
According to Austereo, the show is "in recess" and not "suspended".
Huh? How does that work? Have they or haven't they disciplined
Sandilands and co? Apparently not.
The main problems are that Sandilands and Jackie O are now
surrounded by yes-people, and that the show isn't equipped with a
no-button.
Astonishingly, the show – which probes personal distress,
addictions, predilections, masturbation habits and more through the
prism of "entertainment" goes to air without a delay "dump" button,
used in case of – let's just say – a young girl revealing on-air that
she had been raped at 12.
It's the option which gives announcers seven to 10 seconds to stop such material.
"Every other station and show has a dump button and that one fact
alone is unbelievable and shows the animals are in charge of the zoo,"
one former Austereo executive said yesterday.
"Kyle has always hated them and that's an indication of how out of
control his ego is. He was already an ego-maniac back in 2001 when he
was a no-one doing the Hot30 night shift. He was angling for the
breakfast show and offering his opinion on other performers."
The result, says one of many producers who endured tenures on the
breakfast show Kyle and Jackie O have manned since 2005, is an
environment with a high turnover of staff and one in which everyone
bows to the boss: King Kyle…
It appears Austereo had no crisis plan for what both colleagues and
rivals saw coming 1000 miles away. Nor, it seems, did it know how to
control its biggest loud-mouth asset.
So now it finds itself in the vicious cycle of putting in "recess"
the company's biggest money-making show while its Triple M network
flounders towards irrelevancy. They need him back.
….And the breakfast fill-in is James Page. He scored his first ever headline two weeks ago when Sydney Confidential reported how he goaded MIXFM rival Todd McKenney on FaceBook by saying McKenney had "full blown AIDS".
It was utterly untrue, and greatly hurt McKenney and family. And Austereo fully knows that.
I think this is such an interesting viewpoint and one that I share. I can just imagine Kyle sitting at home, shaking his head in genuine confusion and disbelief. It's a bit like a child who has been able to get away with all sorts of reprehensible behaviour for years without any consequence or remonstration from Mum and Dad until one day, out of the blue, after doing something he's done 100 times before and got away with, he's suddenly kicked out of home.
Forgive the tortured analogy but it's time to stop focusing on Kyle and the events of last week and take a look at the bigger picture. Namely, how has this been allowed to happen? That stunt last week was not new. They've been doing such things – and worse – for years. Just a few weeks ago, there was a masturbation competition as Kyle, Jackie's husband and their newsreader all gave sperm samples to see who was the most virile. Anyone listening to that in the car with their kids?
Upfront I'll say I've met Kyle a number of times – although not for years – and he's not a bad person. I am appalled by many of the things he does and says and I agree that he has a colossal ego and is enormously arrogant. But that is simply because nobody ever says no to him. Not his bosses who allow him – and encourage him – to shine a light on the ugly side of human nature on breakfast radio every morning in the same way as Jerry Springer used to do.
And why don't they say no? Because people tune in. The show is #1 in the Sydney breakfast ratings and that means money. Breakfast is the most important shift of the day for a radio station and that's why, as long as his show is rating, Kyle has become a power of 1. Answerable to nobody. Immune to the normal contraints of management controls.
As I noted on Twitter yesterday, I'm certain he hasn't been suspended or reprimanded in any way by Austereo. Instead, I bet they tried to force him to use the 7 second delay button or asked to be made aware of the show's future content and he flat out refused to go on air with any conditions attached.
Which makes this brinkmanship a fascinating thing. Vast sections of public opinion have spoken very loudly about what they feel to be inappropriate radio content. Kyle and Jackie are clearly shocked because (if you take the rape revelation out of the equation), stunts like talking to a 14 year old about sex is nothing new for them. And until now, nobody has thought to challenge them on it.
Will Austereo bow to public opinion and media pressure (instead of bowing to the demands ratings) and sack them? Should they? And who is really accountable here? Kyle, his employers or the listeners who have hungrily lapped up every last sensational stunt for all these years?
EARLIER ON MAMAMIA…
Quicky News Headlines: Thursday April 25th 2024
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Top Comments
I love the Kyle and Jackie O show. It is fun and it's is hilarious. I think Kyle is a crack-up, and he honestly makes my mornings. The house is alive when the two of them are on, they have perfect chemistry and are so in sync. So apart from me being a big fan of theirs, I can honestly say, that having heard the show with the 14 year old, it is NOT as bad as everybody makes it out to be. Jackie O aborted it straightaway, and was very sensitive and caring. Why don't they EVER replay that?!! I am getting to trust the media less and less - honestly, if nobody had heard the show, they would believe, with all this media frenzy that it was Kyle himself who raped the girl. I do not believe that Kyle should be crucified the way he has been. And Jackie should be commended for her tact and sensitivity in the way she handled the whole issue.
A sad fact that a grubby parasite like this "mother" could put her daughter through this ordeal for the sake of some lousy concert tickets. Kyle and Jackie are just doing their jobs. The fact is that people love to suck up this garbage as entertsinment.