A Slow Burn in Melbourne?
Despite dire ratings figures since the Kyle and Jackie O Show started syndicating in April, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson is holding steady.
The $200m duo may have sunk to a 5.1 percent audience share in Melbourne, but Henderson is taking a page out of history books.
History Repeats Itself
“In my mind, I always thought it was going to be a slow thing that would happen (in Melbourne),” Henderson said. “I certainly didn’t expect it this year. I know Kyle said he did. I think you’ve got to be patient and ride it out.”
Henderson points to their success in Sydney as a prime example. “Sydney has had us for years, even though we went to no.1 quite quickly in Sydney, the audience share wasn’t huge. It was a tight race and it took us a good 15 years to get to the figures we’re at now. It really goes to show that people slowly come on board and it’s a matter of them flicking over at the right time to hear the right thing.”
Staying the Course
So, what’s the plan to win over Melbourne listeners? Henderson says they need to stay the course. “We’ve got to keep doing our thing and see what happens,” she said. “There’s not a lot we can do to control it. Word of mouth eventually, they’ll either come on board or they won’t. I always find if you force it too hard, it’s insincere and not really authentic to who we are. We’ve just got to keep at it.”
Dialing Down the Smut
One thing Henderson does concede is that the show needed to tone down the raunchiness. Even co-host Kyle Sandilands agreed, as did KIIS FM management. “I think it was too over the top myself,” she said. “I don’t think it was who we are really. Even I was taken aback by how much smut was happening on air. I do think that was the right call and Kyle admits that, he went a bit over the top. He needed to be pulled back in.”
Getting to Know Melbourne
Henderson, currently on holidays until mid-January, is making a promise to herself to get to Melbourne more often next year. “Yeah, I really want to,” she said. “Kyle’s a lazy bugger. I actually love getting there and I really enjoy it.” Maybe with more frequent visits, Melbourne listeners will start to warm up to the duo?