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Alex Mitchell

Kyle & Jackie O hit with new licence terms before D-Day

The Kyle and Jackie O Show has been off air but if it returns it will be subject to new conditions. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS)

Repeated decency breaches by the Kyle and Jackie O Show have forced Australia's media regulator to impose new licence conditions on the KIIS FM breakfast show.

The show's parent company had lost control of the content the controversial show produced, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said on Monday.

It cited examples where the duo referenced masturbation, pornography, menstruation and oral sex.

Another decency breach occurred when the show played audio of staff members urinating with hosts then guessing if the sound was a male or a female, ACMA said.

A file photo of Kyle Sandilands
Kyle Sandilands has been accused of breaching his $100 million contract due to serious misconduct. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

The show has not aired since March 3 and has effectively been cancelled, after host Kyle Sandilands berated co-host Jackie "Jackie O" Henderson, criticising her for looking into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's horoscope.

ARN Media - which operates the KIIS, GOLD and iHeart brands in Australia - has since accused Sandilands of breaching his $100 million contract due to an act of serious misconduct.

He has until Tuesday to remedy.

Should the show air again, ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said the ball would be in ARN's court to ensure they controlled what content got to air.

“To date, ARN management have been unwilling or unable to control the content that has gone to air,” she said.

“These additional licence conditions mean further breaches will attract strong enforcement action that was not otherwise available to the ACMA."

A file photo of Nerida O'Loughlin
ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said ARN had been unwilling or unable to control the radio show. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

The extra conditions warn that the show must not broadcast content which is "highly offensive or which contains strong and explicit sexual references by the standards of an ordinary reasonable listener".

In a statement to the ASX, the broadcaster said it respects the regulator's decision and would consider its options.

"ARN has already taken steps to ensure compliance and brand safety in line with these licence conditions," it said.

If ARN breached the conditions, penalties include civil penalties or suspension and cancellation of the licence.

After previous breaches, ARN employed two censors for the program.

A file photo of Jackie O
ARN Media says Jackie O gave notice she could not work with co-host Kyle Sandilands any more. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

ARN said on March 3 that Henderson gave notice she could no longer work with her co-host and it considered Sandilands' comments a breach of his agreement with the company.

"You’re off with the fairies ... every segment, every time you’ve spoken, you don’t even know what’s going on," Sandilands said in his rant.

“You’re not doing the rest of the job and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me."

Sandilands has denied the breach and insisted he will be back on air.

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