Real reason Kyle Sandilands wants to end multimillion-dollar ARN dispute
Kyle Sandilands may be prepared to play ball with ARN for one very important and crucial reason.
Kyle Sandilands is motivated to settle with ARN because he fears the legal fight will drag on for years – even if he wins.
In March, days after Kyle’s $100 million 10-year contract was terminated by the radio network for “serious misconduct”, the radio star launched legal action claiming his sacking was invalid and was determined to fight to get back on air.
But the reality of how long it could take to run the legal battle to the end has set in.
News.com.au understands it has dawned on Kyle that even if he has his day in court in October as scheduled, the judge may not make a decision until early 2027.
Then, even if that decision is in Kyle’s favour, both parties would have the opportunity to appeal, and the legal battle could just keep going and going.
According to one industry insider, the case dragging on – potentially for years – would also be bad news for ARN.
“The issue for ARN is that they’re a publicly traded company, so they need to sort it out,” the insider claimed.
“No one is going to invest in a company that has this hanging over their heads, and the shareholders want a settlement.”
Kyle’s motivated to get back on-air after his contract was torn up in March. Picture: Backgrid
Jackie’s contract was also shredded… and she’s launched her own seperate legal action. Picture: Backgrid
While ripping up Kyle and Jackie O’s contracts technically freed up close to $200 million in ARN’s budget, the network has certainly felt the cost of sacking its biggest stars.
The company’s share price has plummeted since scrapping The Kyle and Jackie O Show and terminating the pair’s 10-year deals.
In April last year, ARN’s share price was 60 cents, and the company’s value was an impressive $180 million.
Now, two months after axing Kyle and Jackie, the company’s shares are trading at 39 cents, up from the low of 18.5 cents it reached in April, and its market capitalisation is around $93 million.
It’s clear that ARN is starting to rebound, but whether it’ll ever fully recover from blowing up its flagship show remains to be seen.
Kyle’s been keen to get back on-air since his contract was torn up. Picture: ARN
The show was number one in Sydney FM … but struggling in Melbourne. Picture: ARN
It certainly doesn’t help that both Jackie and Kyle have launched separate legal cases against the broadcaster.
If ARN loses both, it could be on the hook for over $160 million to pay out the remaining amounts of Kyle and Jackie’s torn-up contracts and that is far more than the company is currently worth.
Of course ARN could shoot up in value again in the meantime, and some of that will hinge on whether it brings in a replacement breakfast show that the audience loves.
Lots of potential hosts are being talked about to replace Kyle and Jackie, but at this point, it seems that gossip is being fuelled more by optimistic agents throwing names around and trying to will a show in reality, than any potential network decisions.
Kyle’s made it very clear that he wants to get back on-air and go back to doing what he loves. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short
Jackie’s contract was also torn up by ARN, and she’s launched a separate legal case against the broadcaster. Picture: Nathan Smith
Kyle’s motivation to settle remains clear as day. He has made no secret of the fact he is itching to get back on the mic, and losing years of his career to an ongoing legal battle is a nightmare for him.
Kyle declared outside the Federal Court that he has “mortgages” to pay, just like everyone else, but he is mainly motivated to get back on air after being in the sin bin for months now because he loves radio.
News.com.au understands that even after all these months, the shockjock remains ready and willing to fulfil his decade-long contract, and would return to hosting the breakfast slot if ARN would have him.
It is understood that one of Kyle’s arguments in court will be that, as a public figure, he cannot afford to be benched and risk fading into obscurity.
The shock jock has already promised fans he will be back, and is working on a new show, called Kyle Sandilands Live, but his preference would be to launch that after the legal issues are resolved.
A source previously told news.com.au that the longer Kyle doesn’t broadcast, the more damage it does to his career.
“It is negatively impacting his ability to pull in an audience,” the source argued.
“He just wants it all figured out because this is just a weird no man’s land, and he can’t be on-air, and it is a very odd time.”