By Tom Wark

Ratings have slumped in The Kyle and Jackie O Show’s former slot as the star radio duo’s former employer seeks to recoup millions in lost profits from the pair.

Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson both face a counter-suit from their old employer ARN, which claimed the pair cost the company key advertising revenue through their sacking.

By breaching their contract and making the future of their KIIS FM breakfast show untenable, both Henderson and Sandilands are liable for the subsequent loss of advertising revenue, the broadcaster said in documents filed in the Federal Court.

Audience share for the station has dropped in the pair’s old time slot in their primary market of Sydney, according to a ratings survey released on Thursday.

The proportion of breakfast listeners on KIIS FM in Sydney dropped one percentage point to 11.7 between February 8 and April 4, representing most of the period after the pair’s final show on February 20 and Sandilands’ sacking on March 4.

Conversely, the station’s share grew by 0.3 percentage points in the Melbourne market where Sandilands and Henderson failed to make many in-roads after their expansion in 2023.

In its defence to Sandilands’ lawsuit over his sacking, ARN told the court that Henderson sent the station a letter in February claiming her co-host repeatedly bullied her.

He allegedly made offensive comments to her in September that prompted her to raise a complaint with station staff.

“Don’t fing bother coming back either until you get your fing shit together like a normal person,” Sandilands allegedly told Henderson off-air.

“I’ve been carrying this whole show for f***ing a year.”

The highly public bust-up moved into the legal arena after an exchange between the star pair in February, when Sandilands accused his co-host of being “off with the fairies”.

The on-air comments prompted Henderson to say she could no longer work with her colleague.

As a result of Sandilands breaching his contract by committing serious misconduct, he is liable for legal costs and lost revenue, ARN said in court documents.

The radio giant claimed Henderson was also liable for the same costs because she breached her agreement by bringing the show to an end.

Both presenters are suing ARN separately for breaches of their respective contracts, with Henderson claiming she should not have been fired just for refusing to work with Sandilands.

Henderson alleged in court documents she complained to station management multiple times about comments by Sandilands over about six months.

Sandilands allegedly said some of Henderson’s comments were “weird, psychological bullshit” and her belief in “hype words” was negatively impacting her dating life.

But Sandilands’ suit claims he did not deserve to have his contract torn up because he had not committed serious misconduct.

The pair are both seeking the full payout of the remainder of their 10-year, $100 million contracts signed at the end of 2023.

Both cases are due for a preliminary hearing on Friday.