With his role as a judge on Australian Idol axed, the question remains - will his place with the Austereo network remain secure?

Branding expert and head of marketing at RMIT Michael Beverland said Sandilands' bad boy image branding might not be enough to get him out of his current career nosedive.

"If they have someone to fill his spot [on Austereo's 2Day FM] it is possible they will boot him out," Mr Beverland said.

"It will have to be redemption, a complete change of behaviour [for him to fix his image]," he said

Austereo spokesman Matt Horan declined to comment on the network's view of his sacking by Channel Ten, other than to say they were "not making any further comment on the issue".

The Idol broadcaster late yesterday announced the sacking of Sandilands from the music show after extensive talks with the shows producers and advertisers.

But fans of the program are already petitioning to get the sacked judge back on the show.

In a four-page online forum set up on the official Idol website, fans call for the reinstatement of the shamed judge, with some threatening to boycott the show altogether.

Blogger Melissa wrote: "I think this whole thing has been blown out . I feel the mother is to blame she knew about and asked her daughter that question not Kyle. Get off his back and I will think twice about watching this year."

Another blogger proclaimed: "I can not believe that Australian Idol and Channel Ten have made the decision to stand Kyle down. I will never allow Australian Idol to be watched on my television again. Bad move guys!"

On the same site, a different forum questioned Sandilands' credentials as an Idol judge, accusing the shock jock of being underqualified to judge the nationwide singing competition.

"To me, for Kyle to offer any sort of professionally critical comment is a joke, he's like any yobbo off the street offering his opinion and I think in his case yobbo is an apt description," blogger Renster exclaimed.

In a statement issued last night Sandilands expressed his sorrow at being kicked off the show.

He also remains on an indefinite "recess" from his Austereo radio duties.