The Australian Radio Network (ARN) presented its 2026 Upfronts in Sydney on Wednesday.
When someone says, “I’ve changed,” it usually means trouble’s either just passed or just begun.
So, when ARN‘s new Chief Operating Officer, Michael Stephenson, told those that the network has changed, advertisers could be forgiven for leaning in (or out).
‘Stevo’, the former TV executive now steering ARN’s national operations, was on a mission to make one thing clear: this isn’t just a radio network anymore.
“We’ve really focused on the transition of our company from a radio business to an entertainment company. To do that, you must transform to become increasingly more digital,” he said.
“It’s our opportunity really to draw a line in the sand, between the old ARN and what we hope to be the new ARN,” he said.
That transformation, he added, runs straight through iHeart – the platform ARN says is now central to its strategy.
And with that, ARN’s leadership kicked off its 2026 trade briefing: a confident display of where audio, video, and data meet – and, yes, a few nods to that $200 million question hanging over the room.
The event also comes as ARN prepares for a major leadership shift.
Earlier this month, Ciaran Davis, who has led ARN Media for 16 years, announced he will step down as CEO.
His successor? The very man now driving the network’s reinvention. The transition marks a generational handover that symbolises ARN’s broader transformation from broadcaster to entertainment powerhouse.
If ARN’s new era has a beating heart, it’s iHeart. The digital audio platform – licensed from iHeartMedia in the US – anchors ARN’s vision to become the home of connected entertainment across radio, streaming, podcasts, video, and live experiences.
Newly appointed Chief Digital and Technology Officer Ben Campbell described the iHeart partnership as “a global juggernaut,” noting that it’s “the largest free radio streaming, music streaming, and podcasting platform in the world.”
“Due to their size and scale, they are leading the charge with audio consumption and habits around the world,” he said.
The centrepiece of the 2026 Upfronts was the launch of the next-generation iHeartRadio app, its biggest update since its Australian debut.
Inspired by the nostalgia of the car radio, the redesigned app merges the tactile simplicity of traditional radio with the convenience of modern streaming.
Campbell said focus group participants “kept coming back to the ease of presets and one-button access, and to scanning through stations to hear what’s playing before you land on what you want.”
New features include custom Presets (up to 15 stations, playlists, or podcasts), a Scan Button offering 15-second previews of live stations, and a Live Radio Dial for real-time browsing across Australia.
Everything old is new again, right?
The update also introduces Trending and Rankers, letting users see the most popular shows and artists, and an Australian-first Lyrics feature offering karaoke-style scrolling lyrics across playlists and live radio.
“Our goal,” Campbell said, “is to make iHeart the default, everyday audio app for Australians on the move.”
For advertisers, the bigger story may be under the hood. ARN unveiled a rebuilt data and ad tech stack that brings precision, scale, and measurable results to its audio ecosystem.
The company is launching a data lakehouse built on Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric to unify listener insights across podcasts, streaming, and broadcast.
New partnerships with Westpac DataX and Experian add 800 audience segments, allowing ARN to enrich campaigns with transaction and credit data, while existing partnerships with Azira and Hyp continue to provide location and behavioural targeting.
Campbell called 2026 “a transformative shift in our first-party data strategy.”
ARN’s “scaled identity spine” will increase addressability across its three million registered users and seven million monthly actives.
Two new data cleanrooms, LiveRamp and InfoSum, enable advertisers to securely match their customer data with ARN’s audience for campaign activation, ensuring privacy and precision at scale.
Recognising that podcasting has become a hybrid medium, ARN will make a serious push into video in 2026. “Around 77% of podcast consumers now alternate between audio and video formats,” Campbell said.
ARN will begin testing the hosting and distribution of video podcasts via RSS on Apple Podcasts, inserting audio ads over video artwork, and expanding distribution across YouTube with baked-in brand messaging.
iHeart also announced a landmark partnership with Are Media, bringing some of Australia’s most trusted lifestyle brands into the iHeart ecosystem – including marie claire, WHO, The Australian Women’s Weekly, and Home Beautiful.
Corey Layton, Head of Digital Audio, said the collaboration combines Are Media’s storytelling credibility with iHeart’s digital scale. “Combining the storytelling power of Are Media’s iconic brands with iHeart’s digital scale unlocks unprecedented commercial and creative opportunities,” he said.
The partnership launches with marie claire’s new podcast You’re Gonna Want to Hear This, hosted by editor Georgie McCourt and featuring conversations with Jacinda Ardern, Grace Tame, Cindy Crawford, and Celeste Barber.
If inclusivity is the future of media, ARN is betting big on it.
The company unveiled the iHeart Women’s Sports Network, Australia’s first all-audio platform dedicated to women’s sport, created in partnership with Making The Call.
The network will deliver daily bulletins led by Rana Hussain across metro and regional stations, spotlighting athletes and competitions from grassroots to elite levels.
Its podcast slate includes No Dribble with Liz Ellis AO, The [Female] Athlete Project with Chloe Dalton, and The Scoop from Cricket Australia, alongside original iHeart productions Two Good Sports with Abbey Gelmi and Georgie Tunny, and new series hosted by Kirby Bentley and Brihony Dawson.
HER WAY Sports Media, founded by teenage journalist Abbie, will also join the network to bring a Gen Z lens to sports storytelling. A percentage of every advertising dollar invested in the network will go toward funding Making The Call’s development programs, ensuring more women enter sports media careers.
ARN also revealed a robust 2026 podcast slate that builds on the momentum of its local originals and international hits.
Australian True Crime, hosted by Meshel Laurie, joins iHeart and expands into video and radio with True Crime Tonight on the KIIS Network.
The Lazy CEO with Showpo’s Jane Lu offers a lighter take on business innovation, while The Mums’ Group from the Taeuber triplets (of Outspoken fame) dives into modern motherhood.
Access Granted, hosted by Lowanna Grant, explores identity and resilience through interviews with leading voices across Australia and New Zealand.
The next major launch, Love Island: Officially Unpacked, premieres next week, created in partnership with ITV Studios Australia and Nine, giving fans a behind-the-scenes pass to the nation’s most talked-about reality show.
Returning favourites like She’s On the Money, Outspoken, Two Doting Dads, The Nutrition Couch, and The Psychology of Your 20s remain core to iHeart’s lineup.
In one of its most commercially significant announcements, ARN confirmed the arrival of Ruby, iHeartMedia’s branded content studio, to Australia.
Ruby’s Vice President Ethan Frizzell said the studio’s model flips the traditional ad equation: “The average ad might get three seconds – an Instagram or TikTok glance. What if we could get 20 to 30 minutes with a consumer?”
Ruby has produced over 50 branded podcasts for HBO, IBM, Salesforce, and Audible in the US, achieving an 85% client renewal rate. The Australian iteration offers full creative and production services, distribution, and measurement, all under a simple promise: brands buy the media, and Ruby covers production as added value.
If Stephenson’s mantra is “we’re an entertainment company,” then iHeartLIVE is ARN’s proof of concept.
In 2026, the live music platform will scale up nationally, staging 20 events across major cities and regional centres, reaching more than 10,000 fans in person and millions via radio and digital. Each event will feature exclusive brand integrations, live audio simulcasts, and on-demand video, amplified across iHeart’s digital and social platforms.
The company is doubling down on audience connection with a fresh slate of experiential formats that take radio off the airwaves and into real life.
The network’s new lineup – Save Our Pub, Run Club Rave, Kiised at Sea and The Zone – will roll out across KIIS, GOLD, CADA, iHeart and ARN Regional, blending storytelling, live events and social-first content designed to bring listeners – and brands – along for the ride.
Each concept is built around participation and storytelling: Save Our Pub focuses on restoring local venues through community nominations; Run Club Rave mixes wellness and live radio; Kiised at Sea turns dating into cruise-ship content; and The Zone brings endurance-based challenges to life across audio and video.
Together, the formats are positioned to deliver new sponsorship opportunities in lifestyle, travel, fitness and retail.
The company has redrawn the metro map for 2026, confirming sweeping rebrands and breakfast line-up changes across its KIIS and GOLD networks – but leaving one major rumour unfulfilled: Kyle & Jackie O won’t be going national.
One wonders if this is what the dealmakers had in mind during the negotiation process of the pair’s $200 million dollar 10-year deal.
When asked – yet again – a timeline for plans to roll out the duo nationally, Stevo told Mediaweek: “When we think the time is right.”
As for what factors will determine that timing, those are yet to be shared.
Chief Content Officer Lauren Joyce also outlined a bold plan to align KIIS and GOLD under unified national identities while maintaining local flavour in key markets.
“We’ve been planning a networking strategy at ARN for a while,” she said. “Across 2026 we’ll align both of our brands to have a national metro network footprint.”
The GOLD network will become a true five-city brand next year, uniting Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth under one umbrella.
Sydney’s WSFM, rebranded earlier this year as GOLD101.7, and Melbourne’s GOLD104.3 will remain the flagship stations.
Perth’s 96FM will rebrand to GOLD 96FM, while Adelaide’s Cruise 1323 becomes GOLD 1323. DAB+ stations in Brisbane and Adelaide will round out the national footprint.
“Earlier this year we rebranded WSFM to GOLD and contemporised the brand,” Joyce said. “It has performed really well, particularly in 25–54s, which was the goal.”
At the centre of the network will be Christian O’Connell on breakfast and Jonesy & Amanda on drive, backed by local news, sport and weather in each city.
Perth will keep its own breakfast show for now, with O’Connell simulcast on GOLD 80s as the market transitions.
On the KIIS side, the story is one of expansion and replacement.
The network will stretch across five metro cities, with Adelaide’s Mix 102.3 rebranding to KIIS 102.3, Brisbane’s KIIS 97.3 welcoming a new show led by Craig ‘Lowie’ Lowe, and Perth launching a new KIIS DAB+ station carrying Kyle & Jackie O for the first time.
That Perth rollout is the only market getting the high-profile Sydney duo, despite industry chatter suggesting a wider national push.
Joyce was clear: “In Perth, Kyle and Jackie O will launch in the market on the DAB+ station.” Beyond that, ARN’s strategy is to keep breakfast live and local in each city.
In Adelaide, the shake-up follows the confirmed axing of Hayley Pearson and Max Burford, whose Mix 102.3 breakfast show will wrap December 12 2025. They’ll be replaced by Ben & Liam, returning to their hometown for a younger-skewing reboot.
Meanwhile in Brisbane, the long-running Robin, Kip & Corey Oates show will also end December 12 – making room for Lowie’s LA-flavoured energy.
“It’s a big move for us,” said Joyce.
“In Adelaide, that takes the station younger and brings a younger music proposition. In Brisbane, Lowie will elevate the entertainment proposition and let us lean into music and feed national content into the market.”
Across the network, familiar names will play bigger roles in 2026.
Smallzy joins KIIS for dual time slots – early drive (3–4 pm) and nights (7–9 pm) – while Will & Woody remain at the centre of ARN’s national drive lineup.
Joyce called Smallzy’s addition “one of the biggest things we’re looking forward to in 2026,” noting his global access to talent will “elevate the network’s overall entertainment proposition.”
Sub-brands like KIIS Dance, KIIS Australia and new digital offshoot KIIS X will extend the network across streaming and DAB+, while purpose-built video sets will bring visual radio to social platforms.
For Joyce, ARN’s new structure isn’t just about rebranding – it’s about reshaping how the company sells to advertisers.
“We’ve made concerted efforts toward a national networking proposition, making it a lot easier for clients to buy into us,” she said.
The 2026 strategy sets ARN up as a two-brand powerhouse: KIIS for youth and entertainment, GOLD for music and nostalgia.
But the through-line is unmistakable – live, local, and scalable.
And while Kyle & Jackie O’s voices won’t echo across every city just yet, ARN’s Upfronts made one thing clear: the network’s reinvention isn’t about syndication.
It’s about connection… and entertainment because that’s showbiz, baby.