‘Not Kyle and Jackie O’: Radio hosts address rumours as Robin Bailey takes swipe at network after axing

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A tearful Robin Bailey says she is fearful about how she will earn a living after her breakfast radio program with co-hosts Kip Wightman and former Broncos star Corey Oates was axed, despite improving in the ratings.

Speaking about the shock axing on 97.3FM on Monday morning, Bailey said: “This is probably it for me, I don’t think I’ll get another radio contract and that’s heartbreaking because I love this business.

“Kind of scary to think I don’t know how to make money, but I’ve just got to believe that something will happen, something good.”

Radio personality Robin Bailey has been axed from 97.3FM alongside co-hosts Kip Wightman and Corey Oates.

Australian Radio Network, which owns the KIIS Network, announced last Thursday that the Robin, Kip & Corey Oates breakfast show on 97.3FM would air for the last time on December 12.

The announcement came a year after Oates joined Bailey and Wightman on the show.

Wightman told listeners they would not be replaced with a syndication of the Sydney-based Kylie and Jackie O show.

“A lot of people [are] wondering what’s happening next year,” Wightman said.

“We don’t know. We’ve been told that it’s not Kyle and Jackie O coming in next year. I guess we’ll all find out next year, or maybe you won’t listen ever again, which is fine by us.”

The trio said they would concentrate on finishing the year on a high.

“It would be a great kick in the nuts if we could finish on No.1,” Wightman said.

However, that would be a big task, with the program significantly trailing Nova106.9’s morning offering with Ash, Luttsy & Nikki Osborne – Brisbane’s most listened-to breakfast radio show, which commands an overall audience share of 13.4 per cent.

The Robin, Kip & Corey Oates show came fifth in the latest radio ratings, despite slightly raising its audience share from 9.3 per cent to 10 per cent.

It was beaten by Stav, Abby & Matt on B105 (12.7 per cent), Marto, Margaux & Dan on Triple M (12.6 per cent) and Loretta Ryan and Craig Zonca on ABC local radio (10.1 per cent).

In an emotional post on social media on Sunday, Bailey took a swipe at ARN, saying “seven amazing, talented, kind and compassionate people lost their jobs last Thursday”.

“Our industry care [sic] more about money than connection.”

Last year, Kiis axed its Melbourne breakfast presenters, Jason Hawkins and Lauren Phillips, to make way for a networked version of the Kyle and Jackie O show.

ARN splashed a reported $200 million to secure the pair for the next decade – with their entry into Melbourne rumoured to be the first step of a national roll-out.

But so far, Kyle and Jackie O has proven to be an expensive flop in the Victorian capital.

Bailey has faced turmoil in her personal life and career, including the deaths of her first husband Tony Smart, who ended his life in 2014, and her second husband Sean Pickwell, who died from liver cancer.

In 2016, she was blindsided when 97.3FM did not renew her contract after 10 years on air. She returned to the station three years later, before last week’s axing.

“There’s nothing like being walked out of the building with a cardboard box, which has happened twice now to me,” she told listeners on Monday.

The shake-up comes amid a turbulent period for Brisbane radio, with 4BC Mornings host Bill McDonald and Breakfast host Peter Fegan also confirming their departures in recent weeks.

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