Kyle and Jackie O - what their show ending means for the radio industry

One of Australia’s biggest radio shows, Kyle & Jackie O, has ended. Tuesday’s announcement to the ASX, the Australian stock market, makes it clear that it isn’t a stunt. The show is now off the air: Kent Small is doing the breakfast show in both Sydney and Melbourne (this is Australian radio, so he has to have a nickname, which is “Smallzy”).Employment lawyers will now be involved, in two of the biggest media legal cases in the country, as things begin to get messy. Jackie “O” Henderson is now saying that she “did not quit or resign”, in a statement that, perhaps pointedly, didn’t mention Kyle’s name once. Kyle (who has also taken time away from TV duties) is also reported to be priming his lawyers for a reported $88mn; potentially arguing that a similar argument on-air last year wasn’t treated as serious by ARN, his whole show was based on controversy, and a slightly misguided view that ARN’s censors should have prevented the argument going out. There’s plenty more informed coverage in the Game Changers Radio podcast.This might look like a peculiarly Australian news story. But, actually, I think it raises questions for radio people everywhere. Here are some of them.