The Kyle and Jackie O Show repeatedly and deliberately aired vulgar, sexually explicit and deeply offensive content that is unacceptable to the community, and its owners ARN are unable or unwilling to rein the radio duo in, says the media watchdog following a months-long investigation.
The stinging assessment comes after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found seven new breaches of broadcasting decency codes after a review of the content that went to air on the show between August and December last year, finding systemic issues with the show and the content it airs on its licenses in Melbourne and Sydney.
ARN are unable to rein in their star hosts, the media watchdog’s chair said.
There were three breaches for decency in Melbourne and four in Sydney, as well as breaches of the complaint handling rules in both markets, bringing the total number of breaches to 12 this year alone, ACMA said.
The findings clearly point to systemic issues with the program, ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.
“The Kyle & Jackie O Show has repeatedly and deliberately aired content that is vulgar, sexually explicit and deeply offensive,” O’Loughlin said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
“Even after previous breaches and the employment of additional censors required by the ACMA, the program continues to broadcast content that is unacceptable to the community.”
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ARN, which owns the KIIS Network on which the show airs, appear “unwilling or unable to rein in” the presenters, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, O’Loughlin said. “As a result, the ACMA is currently considering enforcement actions so that ARN takes full responsibility for the content broadcast on their stations.”
Examples of the breaches included two episodes featuring a guessing game where both male and female staff members urinating were aired, with the hosts having to guess whose audio clip belonged to whom, and other episodes containing lewd discussions of masturbation and pornography. The show airs between 6am and 10am on weekdays.
