ARN remains coy on new KIIS Melbourne Breakfast show as Jase & PJ record best-ever result

Former Editor & Content Director

KIIS Melbourne’s Breakfast show Jase & PJ achieved its highest ever share this week, jumping 1.8 points to 7.4%.

The bitter-sweet feeling of the show finally performing to expectation when its co-host Polly ‘PJ’ Harding is about to depart is not lost on the Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) chief content officer, Duncan Campbell.

“I said to someone today that if someone was writing a script for this, you’d have the last survey for the show having a nice big jump,” he said of the timing.

“There’s some market dynamics at play here. There’s a consistency factor. The content – I have said of the last couple of surveys I think it’s some of the best content they’ve ever done. PJ is very relaxed. She’s come into her own a little bit. And the content is even more consistent.”

Campbell admitted that a lot of work goes into the KIIS Melbourne station, so while there is not yet a trend of steady, climbing results, it was pleasing to have a positive figure on Tuesday.

As for what’s next after Harding’s departure, Campbell remained tight-lipped.

The market will ‘find out’ the new co-host “in the next few weeks”, he said.

“I’m being a bit coy about it, but we will announce something in the foreseeable future. Before the new show starts, put it that way… It won’t be a surprise on the day,” he said.

“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make all that cut together at the moment, so I’m quite excited by it actually.”

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Shane
3 Jun 2021 - 1:11 pm

I see you’ve done interviews with Duncan Campbell, Dave Cameron and with the content boss at Nine. Did you do one with Paul Jackson?

Froggo
3 Jun 2021 - 2:22 pm

I can explain the jump.

The network has given up on this year and any results for KIIS because of the imminent changes.

The show has been allowed to breathe and wasn’t micromanaged into being dull. The pressure was off and the team were allowed to do the show they wanted to do and are very good at.

Imagine where they could be if they were left alone from the start. Surely ARN will one day learn that micromanagement is the suffocation of their shows.

They didn’t want Kyles penis pageant, he does it and has the best result ever is another example.

You’re hiring some of the best in the industry and then setting them up for failure by out of date consultants and head content clowns.

Come on Froggo
3 Jun 2021 - 4:18 pm

@Froggo – come on.
You clearly are not inside the ARN building. No one is taking their foot off. Maybe its to do with the new EP running things and the talent finally listening to them on what is needed to win.
Side note- Kyle and Jackie Penis Pageant gave that result? Really?!?!

Froggo
4 Jun 2021 - 12:33 am

@come on froggo – Never said the team have taken their foot off, they’re probably peddling just as hard. What I said was management have given up on pushing them and micromanaging them. They’ll always work hard, that’s just how Jase and PJ work. No interference from Sydney, it’s working.

Jo and Lemo on Gold went number 1 after the decision had been made in Sydney to axe the show. They were left alone and not micromanaged in their last survey.

Bianca, Mike and Bob on 973 went number 1 after the decision had been made in Sydney to axe the show. They also were left alone and not micromanaged in their last survey.

While I don’t think Jase and PJ will end on number 1 they will end with their highest results ever. See above for the reasoning.

If you don’t know how Kyle and Jackie work by now, then maybe sit down. The Pageant got them press and talkability which is why they do this stuff. They don’t care if it’s good or bad, as long as someone is saying something about them, they win. The Pageant was one small part to the surveys campaign and result. No pun intended. Point is, how many things are stopped with that show that can get them talkability? When they need a good result, they make more noise than anyone else and the audience love it. When have you ever heard anything from 2day that wasn’t vanilla? Please see results in the survey.

Never said I worked at ARN, but when you’ve been around long enough and talk to people who are, you can see how things work.

Roger
4 Jun 2021 - 5:45 am

So much for some CEO’s and CD’s who say profile is everything. Jase and PJ are rating 7’s and neither had any profile in Melbourne. They rate about the same as Nova and Fox breakfast shows at a fraction of the cost. They would do well on 2dayfm
and would be much better than Carrie and Tommy for instance. Another good move from ARN who are leading the way, introducing new talent into the bigger markets, like Jase, PJ, Christian. Let’s hope sanity prevails and more great broadcasters who know how to deliver great shows, live in the actual market they work in and are sales, client friendly become the norm.

Andrew Ferguson
4 Jun 2021 - 10:32 am

@Roger. They’ve had one good survey in four years. . . . . As the article says, hardly a trend.

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