Advertisers are deserting controversial Australian talkback radio host Alan Jones' radio show with reports it has lost half its revenue since he chastised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
In August, Jones said she should be hit with a 'backhander'. He also said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison should "shove a sock down her throat" after she called Morrison out over Australia's stance on climate change.
Many brands boycotted the radio host's show with more than 80 brands abandoning the radio programme in the month following Jones' comments.
A week after Jones' verbal attack on Ardern caused an uproar on both sides of the Tasman, he backtracked, saying his comments did not come out as he had hoped.
"I made some comments last week as you're well aware, and in the haste of what you say in radio they were most probably clumsily presented," Jones said on Sky News Australia.
He also wrote a letter to Ardern apologising, which she accepted, but advertisers have not been as forgiving.
Sources told The Sydney Morning Herald the backlash from Jones' comments may cost Macquarie Media, which owns Jones' network 2GB, about $6 million in advertising.
It appears audiences are also deserting the shock jock.
The latest Commercial Radio Australia survey results revealed Jones' show had dropped 0.3 percent in the Sydney breakfast market.
The station Jones is on dropped 0.6 percent in the overall Sydney share.
