The incredible price Sydney’s radio kings and queens cost networks – as stations scramble to trim the fat and fire the most expensive stars

Sydney’s radio kings and queens are costing networks so much money they are scrambling to find ways to cut costs, a new report says.

A collective $35 million a year is spent to keep the likes of Kyle Sandilands, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, Ray Hadley, Deb Knight and Ben Fordham on air, the Daily Telegraph claimed this weekend.

The report places KIIS FM star Sandilands’ salary at $10 million per year, while his co-host Henderson is shown as earning the same amount.

He goes on to claim that 2GB host Hadley makes $3 million, while fellow host Fordham makes about half that, $1.5 million.

Hadley will be leaving the network at the end of the year to retire, which should save 2GB on a large portion of their talent spend.

Knight is at the bottom of the list, but he still paid a whopping $300,000 a year for his work on 2GB and Channel Nine, according to the report.

ABC’s top earner would be Craig Reucassel, who earns $220,00 for Breakfast on ABC Radio Sydney.

The costs of maintaining such an expensive stable of stars have some stations looking for ways to trim the fat, the Daily Telegraph reports.

KIIS star Mitch Churi was recently made redundant while at Triple M, with Gus Worland and Jude Bolton among those to leave.

He will finish his studies at the end of the year, the Daily Telegraph said last month.

He has hosted The Night Show with Mitch Churi since 2019 and co-hosts The Pick Up with Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne.

The decision was taken for “financial reasons”, says the newspaper.

“Mitch is broken and completely blindsided,” the publication quoted a “colleague” of the radio star as saying.

It comes after Sandilands made a shocking confession about his eye-popping radio earnings.

During an episode of the Kyle & Jackie O show earlier this year, the 53-year-old revealed that his annual salary was much higher than his reported $10 million.

While early reports of their recently signed contract suggested that Kyle and his co-host Henderson would earn $200 million over the next ten years, Kyle said their contract would actually see the duo earn $300 million, which means they will each take home around $15 million. every year until 2034.

“I can’t live with the lie, it’s underestimated. That’s actually about $50 million extra each,” he said of their 10-year contract.

Kyle wasn’t ashamed to reveal his salary negotiations, taking aim at his radio rivals by saying, “We get this because we’re good (at radio).”

Meanwhile, the radio duo revealed the surprising amount they received for their first gigs in the industry.

The two men were discussing radio host salaries when they compared how little they had earned in their first jobs.

Kyle remembers taking his first job for less than the government benefits he received while homeless.

“When I started in Townsville I had to take a pay cut from the Homeless Allowance. So the government was paying me a homeless allowance. I took a pay cut for an $11,000-a-year job to get my foot in the door,” the shock athlete said.

Co-host Jackie, 49, revealed she had a similarly paltry salary when she signed her first radio contract.

“I took it for $10,000. It was because you loved the job,” Jackie said.

Reflecting on their early careers, Kyle also explained why people like him and his co-host would receive such low pay when they were first starting out.

“You’re limited because for people like me and Jackie, there aren’t many other options. Talk shit for a living or be unemployed,” Kyle said.

Jackie agreed, but suggested she could have pursued another profession.

“Oh no, I could have been a prostitute!” Jackie joked.

“You’re probably right,” Kyle said, “Low-end, $300.”

In November 2023, the Sydney-based radio duo signed a record $200 million, 10-year on-air deal, keeping them on the airwaves until 2034.

Alongside the 10-year radio deal, it has been reported that a unique clause in the contract gives them the ability to broadcast the show from “anywhere on earth”.

Kyle has often worked on the KIIS FM show from Los Angeles and elsewhere, so the new contract will give him the flexibility to continue broadcasting wherever he chooses.

In a statement celebrating the historic contract renewal, Sandilands said: “Fans of the show will be delighted to know that this 10-year deal is the longest radio contract in Australian history.

“Love us or hate us, Jackie and I will continue our politically incorrect nonsense for a long, long time.”

He added: “We would like to thank the listeners. Staff. All customers. Even senior management, I’ll give a nod. They actually did something brilliant.

The duo hope to dominate markets outside of their Sydney-based audience and expand their reach into Melbourne for the first time.