ARN Media chief executive Michael Stephenson told the company's annual general meeting that the advertising drop-off, while the Kyle and Jackie O Show was on air, cost it $26.4 million in revenue in 2025/26.
"What has been obvious in recent times is that both consumer and advertiser expectations have changed," he told shareholders on Thursday.
"Over the period, there were a number of advertisers who had concerns about the safety, or the brand safety, of some of our content, and as a result, it impacted our revenues through the period."
The Kyle and Jackie O Show was known for its explicit content, including occasional discussions of sex acts, masturbation and pornography, which had drawn calls to boycott the show from a grassroots activist group that accused it of normalising "violent misogyny".
ARN Media sensationally terminated the contracts of both Jacqueline "Jackie O" Henderson and Kyle Sandilands after an on-air blow-up between the pair in February, during which he told her she was "off with the fairies" and "almost unworkable" because of her interest in astrology.
The duo was being paid a combined $20 million each year under a 10-year, $200 million contract due to expire in 2034.
Mr Stephenson told the meeting ARN's metro radio revenue fell by $28.3 million to $147.3 million in 2025/26, and most of that decline - $22 million - was related to clients "who had chosen not to advertise with ARN because of issues relating to brand safety".
The issue also hit regional advertising, which was down $5.3 million to $110.5 million, with $4.4 million of that drop coming from national advertisers who pulled their spots because of brand safety concerns.
ARN hopes many of the advertisers who left would eventually return as clients, although Mr Stephenson said he was realistic about the time it would take for that to happen.
"Some of which we may see in this financial year, and some potentially beyond," he said.
ARN Media chairman Hamish McLennan told shareholders following the February 20 stoush, Henderson took a leave of absence and advised on February 26 she could no longer work with her on-air partner of more than 25 years.
"The company considered this a repudiation of her contract, on the basis that it was not possible for her to perform her core contractual requirement to deliver the Kyle and Jackie O Show and, as a result, her contract was terminated," Mr McLennan said.
ARN engaged with Henderson about the possibility of an alternative show but failed to reach an agreement, he said.
It also took the view that Sandilands' conduct on February 20 amounted to "serious misconduct" and terminated his contract two weeks later after he failed to remedy it, Mr McLennan said, without going into details.
Both Henderson and Sandilands, whose morning program was being broadcast in Sydney and Melbourne, are separately suing an ARN subsidiary for more than $160 million.
Sandilands has contended there was no serious misconduct, the KIIS radio network had promoted clips of their on-air blow-ups and ARN was using the incident to back out of a contract it regretted.
The pair reigned as Sydney's top-rated morning drive program for many years, attracting an audience of more than 600,000 listeners, but the launch into Melbourne in 2024 did not go well.
Mr McLennan told shareholders because the matter was before the courts, he couldn't comment further.
The former Network 10 chief executive expressed confidence in ARN despite its struggling share price - which is down by half over the past 12 months - and said he would invest $500,000 buying company shares.
ARN shares were down almost two per cent to 26 cents in afternoon trading.
8°C