John Maycock

Finally, witches, we have a final figure on how much our #VileKyle campaign cost ARN after their stupid decision to refuse to get rid of Sandipants in 2024: $55 million. FIFTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS. That, dear witches, is the cost of ignoring witches when they’re determined, organised and ragey. And that, dear witches, is a shot in the eye to all those who’ve insisted it wasn’t the witches who spelled Kyle’s exit ‘cos how could a pack of sweary women cause so much havoc? Instead they blamed Melbourne’s ratings (barely a factor, if any) or ACMA (did less than nothing) or Kyle and Jackie’s on-air stoush (yes, did finally spell the end but was almost certainly *caused* by ARN seizing their chance to get rid of him after our firmly telling the company just two days before Jackie fled we wanted serious interventions, and Kyle was thus endlessly shitty about being forced by management to capitulate). Nope. CEO Michael Stephenson said it himself in words of very few syllables at the company’s results reporting: “Over the past 18 months, a pressure campaign by activist group Mad F---king Witches prompted hundreds of companies to pull their advertising from ARN, especially Kiis FM. At the company’s half-year results on Friday, Stephenson revealed the full extent of the damage that the campaign, prompted by Sandilands’ lewd and overly sexual comments, had done. … ‘The reason we’ve lost that revenue is because of brand safety’.” afr.com/companies/media-and-… “Brand Safety”, witches. Those two words hide aaaaallll the endless work witches did. But they explain how a large collective of clever women (and men) could obtain the result they fought so hard for. Fifty-five million dollars, witches (which doesn’t even count what we also cost Channel 7). The cost of male entitlement and misogyny plus despicable hubris, a punch-down profit business plan and a “star” who hoodwinked his bosses into a contract so perverse they nearly destroyed the company finagling their way out. Fifty-five million smackeroos. Was it worth the fight? You fucking betcha it was. _______ We won’t stop till advertisers stop funding filth. Go to mfw.org.au/our-campaigns/ to learn how to contact advertisers. Or go directly to FOE lists for ongoing campaigns here: campaigndata.mfw.org.au/busi… . Send all responses you get to [email protected]. Please also support our work to get rid of Vile Kyle: it’s a subscription to the future for the price of a coffee (or two) each month: mfw.org.au/support #ToYourBrooms