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Kyle Sandilands, Jackie O and the biggest deal in radio history.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson have signed a monumental multi-million dollar deal with Australian Radio Network (ARN) that will see the duo remain on air with the network for another decade.

The landmark deal is the biggest in Australian radio history.

The Sydney duo signed their new contracts live on-air, telling listeners on The Kyle & Jackie O Show that they have extended their contract until the end of 2034, worth a reported $200 million. 

The show is also set to expand into Melbourne in 2024.

Watch: Kyle Sandilands talks to Mia Freedman on No Filter about relationships and kids. Post continues below.


Video via Mamamia

"Fans of the show will be stoked to hear that this 10-year deal is the longest radio deal in Australian history. Love us or loathe us, Jackie and I will be continuing with our politically incorrect nonsense for a long, long time," Sandilands said.

"Speaking of 10 years… 10 years ago the 'other' network we were once at told Jackie and I that we were past our used-by date and no longer relevant. So that's a fun little observation that's worth mentioning on such a momentous day. Cheers to ARN for the great partnership and to the future goals we'll continue kicking together."

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Henderson added: "It's an honour to broadcast to Melbourne again after so many years, and to welcome them back to our craziness is really exciting. After 23 years of broadcasting with Kyle, I still pinch myself that our show continues to grow in ratings and in reach. We are incredibly thankful for the support ARN has showed us and the belief they continue to have in our show.

"When I was 18 years old, I rang a radio station, and never did I dream in that sliding doors moment that I would find something that has become the love of my life and would lead me to this phenomenal career and historic deal," she continued.

"I feel so grateful for our incredible listeners who have gone through life with us and will continue to do so for the next 10 years."

Sandilands and Henderson will reportedly each earn $10 million per year, which is double their current salary rumoured to be $5 million a year each.

The duo began broadcasting together in 2000 on 2Day FM before moving to KIIS in January 2014. 

They famously blindsided their employers and jumped ship to rival station KIIS FM (previously Mix 106.5).

"They came with a contract but by then there was a lot of things we had heard that had been said behind the scenes about us, that we were on our way out," Henderson shared with Osher Gunbserg on his Better Than Yesterday podcast. 

"They were still wanting to sign us, but when you hear things from people that suggest we're on our last legs, you then start to think, 'What do we do from here?'"

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"In radio, you don't leave negotiations until November when your contract is expiring in December," Henderson said. "The fact that no one (at 2Day) had come to us with a contract by October (2013) spoke volumes to us.

"Kyle called me one night and said, 'I've got an idea. What about we go to Mix FM and we rebrand it as KIIS?'"

Since launching with KIIS 1065, The Kyle & Jackie O Show has cemented its position as Australia's most successful radio show, ever.

"Thank God for Kyle because he makes these big moves," Henderson said. "He makes big moves and again this one paid off for us."

In 2019, the Australian Radio Network (ARN) announced it had renewed the contracts of Sandilands and Henderson, with The Daily Telegraph reporting the pair are set to earn a maximum of $50 million each over six years.

An insider indicated their annual salaries could be as high as seven to eight million dollars, with incentive bonuses and revenue share on top.

This equated to around $39,000 each per three-and-a-half-hour radio show.

On Mamamia's No Filter podcast, Henderson spoke with Mia Freedman about her impressive net worth and being the highest-paid person in Australian media. 

"I don't love talking about money. I should be proud of the money I earned but I just hate it. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just the way I was brought up. I've got an interest in other people's salaries, trust me. But you sort of feel like it's gloating. I don't want to gloat," she shared.

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"There's a fine line for me between being proud of how far I've come, which I am really proud of, and then there's the gloating part, which that's the part I don't want to do or am uneasy with."

Listen: Jackie O On What She Wishes She'd Known About Divorce. Post continues below.

Touching on how different it is for women to talk about how much money they make, while her co-host Sandilands has no problem with it, she shared: "Men love to… I think, for us, we see it as almost tacky. I also think it's ingrained in us in a way to not blow your own horn.

"And not talk yourself up. It's terrible. Because we need to do more of that, especially in negotiations, we have this sort of fear that 'I can't go in there and talk myself up like a lot of men can do'.

On negotiating as a team, Henderson shared how their approach has come and gone in waves depending on her relationship with Sandilands. 

"So we went in originally as the united front, and then over the years, for some reason, we just kind of did it separately. Those years were tough. It creates this uncertainty. And I think that solidarity weakens as a result. So I think it's so great that Kyle and I are at a place where we are absolutely on the same page."

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When asked how she feels about being one of the highest-paid people in Australian media, Henderson told Freedman that while she doesn't see it as power, she does feel proud.

"I always revert back to the Gold Coast girl that I was. [A girl just] figuring out what I wanted to do in life, where I'm going to go, what my career was going to be. And so I always think, 'Oh, imagine if someone had told that Gold Coast girl, 'hey, this is what you're going to become. This is where you're going to be. This is going to be your career path.' Oh my god, I would never have believed it in a million years.

"I remember I went for a massage once, when I had just finished TAFE, doing a secretarial course. [The massage therapist] also doubled up as a palm reader. She was looking at my palms. And she said, 'Oh my goodness, you're going to make so much money in your life'. And I thought, 'well, that's not right. I know that's not going to happen'. And she was like, ‘Hey, you're just gonna have a lot of money coming in, in your life’. At the time, I just didn't see how that would even be possible.

"Now, I look back on that and go, 'God she was right to a degree'. The life that I've lived has been real pinch-me stuff. And I've worked hard. So I got to give myself credit for how hard I've worked over those years. And I do feel so proud that we've gotten to where we are. And I feel like that's something that's really nice for my daughter to see. I really want to instil in her to have that financial independence in life."

Feature image: Getty.

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