BY ASHLEY GEELAN
Controversial KIIS FM (formerly 3TT) breakfast hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O – in an on-air ratings stunt – will drop tennis balls from a helicopter.
Elsternwick Park Tennis Centre will invite 100 people onto its tennis courts to catch tennis balls to win a prize in a ratings stunt for the Kyle and Jackie O Show. The competition – as Kyle and Jackie O return to air next Monday – has been titled “Kyle and Jackie O’s $100k ball drop.”
The competition will see 200 tennis balls dropped on the tennis courts from a helicopter. The balls will be labelled with a winning amount of $100,000k. There will also be prizes from Sydney jeweller House of K’dor.
The stunt has been advertised heavily on KIIS FM – owned by ARN – in recent weeks before Kyle & Jackie O’s breakfast show returns to Melbourne’s FM airwaves next week.
Elsternwick resident Lucy Ellen described the stunt as “a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is seeking further information. It is not clear whether this stunt has been given clearance by Air Traffic Control (ATC).
“There are strict regulations around dropping things from aircraft, particularly in populous areas or over public gatherings,” a CASA spokesperson told VicNews.
“This type of event would require CASA approval and we are seeking further information,” the CASA spokesperson said.
A sponsor, Sydney jewellery shop House of K’dor did not respond to an email.
When called it went straight to an answering machine: “Hello, you’ve reached House of K’dor. If you’re receiving this message you’ve called outside of business hours ..” the recorded message stated. It was 2:48pm AEDT today.
The online group “Mad F…ing Witches” has been campaigning against Kyle and Jackie O for some time with advertisers including Aldi, BWS, Dan Murphy’s and Clean Up Australia, among many other companies, that have withdrawn their advertising from Kyle & Jackie O Show due to their on-air behaviour.
Tennis Australia, which is affiliated with the club, was unaware of the event.
“There are strict regulations around dropping things from aircraft, particularly in populous areas or over public gatherings. This type of event would require CASA approval by the helicopter operator.
“CASA has not granted any approvals for helicopter operations to support this event,” a CASA spokesperson told VicNews.
The Kyle and Jackie O show in Melbourne suffered a massive ratings slump last year.
KIIS FM Melbourne, ARN, and the Elsternwick Park Tennis Centre did not respond to requests for comment.
This article was updated at 6pm AEDT, Friday, January 17, 2025, following a response from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
It is ACMA that should be looking in to these two not just CASA, their on air behaviour is disgusting!!
Yep. We’d never speak like that on ham radio and we don’t have the massive reach of a broadcast radio station.
It is my opinion that KIIS FM should have its broadcast license revoked and the whole station taken off air.
It is disgusting what they broadcast.
All stations transmitting whether ham, broadcast radio or TV are expected to meet standards.
KIIS FM is failing to do so.
Comments are closed.