Kyle Sandilands desperate to accept ARN’s bargain basement $12 million settlement, claim insiders

Insiders claim the shock jock “completely capitulated”, and believe they know why he was “desperate” to accept the slim, albeit $12 million, offer presented to him.

With settlement talks threatening to stretch on – potentially beyond October when Sandilands’ wrongful termination case against ARN was scheduled to return to court – the shock jock and one-time co-host of the Kyle & Jackie O Breakfast Show was persuaded to accept a settlement worth just 16 per cent or one sixth of his original $85 million claim following the termination of his 10-year, $100 million contract by KIIS FM’s parent company in March.

On Wednesday some media executives and legal eagles alike saw the settlement as a “complete capitulation” by Sandilands who just weeks ago, in March, reportedly boldly declared to associates that he was contemplating buying ARN.

“He was clearly very uncomfortable about money not coming in and wasn’t prepared to wait until October with massive outflows continuing,” one media executive said on the condition of anonymity.

Kyle Sandilands. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

“The fact that he has always lived beyond his means would have compelled him to settle fast and he’d have been well aware of ARN’s financial constraints.”

A lawyer familiar with the case said Sandilands’ acceptance of the “lowball offer” implied his former employer may have had enough damning historic behavioural claims against the broadcaster to strengthen their resolve to dig in.

A seasoned negotiator himself, Sandilands accepted early on that should he prove his unfair termination case against the radio company he was unlikely to win the entire $85 million payout plus legal costs due to ARN’s perilous share price.

The entire company is presently worth $87 million – just $2 million more than Sandilands was seeking. In 2021 ARN’s market capitalisation was at $578 million.

Three months into settlement negotiations with some of the same radio bosses he repeatedly lashed on air on his radio show, Sandilands last week was forced to bite the bullet and strike a deal.

That deal, announced to the stock exchange on Wednesday morning, likely suggests the shock jock – who reportedly has $24 million in mortgages on four houses – was “desperate” to return to work said one of Sandilands’ former bosses.

“Kyle has been desperate to get this deal done since April and the longer it has gone on, the more his personal debts have mounted up while his personal brand has suffered from his absence from the airwaves and the headlines that follow him,” the radio veteran claimed.

“For him, time is of the essence at this juncture because his audience is yet to settle into a new radio habit.”

Kyle Sandilands’ house at Glenorie.

An industry veteran said Sandilands will be finding it difficult to sit on the sidelines.

“Everyone is a threat to Kyle at the moment. He needs to get back on air.”

While the settlement deal may paint Sandilands in a “desperate” light it conversely paints ARN chairman Hamish McLennan – whose Darling Point house Sandilands was seen visiting six weeks ago – and new CEO Michael Stephenson as gun negotiators.

As the man who had oversight of Sandilands’ and Henderson’s eye-watering $100-million 2023 contracts, McLennan, who in May sought to calm shareholder unrest by investing $500,000 in the company, has had much riding on a quick settlement.

Last week’s radio rating results – which confirmed a 3.5 per cent slump in audience in Sandilands’ former KIISFM breakfast shift in Sydney – is expected to have hastened ARN’s resolve to strike a quick deal as it seeks to find and annoint a successor while it has Sandilands constrained by a nine-month commercial radio non-compete gag order.

The $12.09 million payout – $9 million of which will be paid by the company in monthly instalments to June 2029 with $3 million handed over next month – appears marginally sweeter on paper given ARN is also to provide $1.5 million in contra via advertising over three years for Sandilands’ new venture, a live breakfast podcast with the working title Kyle Sandilands’ Live.

Additionally ARN will skim 19.9 per cent of revenue from Sandilands’ next venture over the same term.

Kyle and Jackie O. Picture: MediaMode

It should be noted digital podcast revenue is significantly less than commercial radio revenue.

The advertising component is likely to provide some consolation to Sandilands as any ads broadcast on ARN’s KIISFM and Gold networks that promote the presenter’s new program may be interpreted by listeners as the radio network acknowledging their former star and being forced to eat humble pie.

ARN cancelled Sandilands’ contract in March after his radio partner Jackie “O” Henderson pulled out of the duo’s long-running top-rating KIISFM breakfast show citing an “unsafe” workplace.

Henderson has launched separate legal proceedings against ARN following her termination.

Source: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/kyle-sandilands-desperate-to-accept-arns-bargain-basement-12-million-settlement-claim-insiders/news-story/055b282a79255210f2805a350fd953d0