Does Radio Have A Future In The Digital Age?

‘With the rise of streaming services and other digital alternatives, traditional radio formats
may experience a decline in popularity, especially among younger audiences’ (Ashbrook,
2023), Throughout this essay, I am going to find out if this is true. I will explore the impact of
digital technology on Radio and what impact it could have in the future. I am interested in the
industry and want to work in the radio industry myself, which is why I think it is beneficial to
find out what the future of the industry may look like. I intend to look into the listening figures,
looking at and comparing different information surrounding what the radio industry is like in
the present time and what the future of the industry holds by getting an insight from
professionals in the audio industry to come to a conclusion of the question ‘Does Radio
Have A Future In The Digital Age’.

Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) ,owned by ‘the BBC and the RadioCentre’
(RAJAR, s.d) have released the figures from the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023) which say
that ‘49.5 million adults or 88% of the adult (15+) UK population tuned in to their selected
radio stations each week in the third quarter of 2023. The total average number of weekly
hours listened to radio for this Quarter is 1.016 billion hours’ (RAJAR, 2023). This is the
same as Quarter 2, 2023 where ‘49.5 million adults or 88% of the adult (15+) UK population
tuned in to their selected radio stations each week’ (RAJAR, 2023). This so far shows that
radio still has a strong audience.

An interview was conducted with Harry Louis who is an assistant producer for Radio 1Xtra .
He said that Radio hasn’t changed a huge amount and ‘it’s still someone speaking into a mic
and people listening’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) which all together says that there hasn’t been much
change in the way Radio Programming is made. RadioTodayUK say that ‘The radio
continues to offer a unique means of accessing live information conveniently and affordably’
(RadioToday UK, 2023) which also brings up another point about Radio’s convenience
where it is said that ‘Radio has adapted to smartphones with most stations available through
dedicated apps that accommodate live streaming and repeat listens’ (RadioToday UK,
2023) .

It is not just Radio being an affordable form of entertainment for anyone, Radio also has the
advantage of being able to be accessed from any device, this brings a sense of convergence
since someone can listen to a podcast on any device that they want to listen on. This all
shows that ‘Radio is a versatile and timeless concept adapting to technological
advancements’ (RadioToday UK, 2023) with the fact that It’s a passive listen, people don’t
always actually listen to it, they just have it on in the background’ (Parkes, C. 2024a). This
so far shows that that radio has a good number of ways that it can be accessed and offers
entertainment for anyone, no matter where they are. A questionnaire asked the public if the
amount of radioThey listen to has changed in the past year, 35% say that their listening
habits have decreased (Parkes, C. 2024j). When the same people were asked if their
podcast listening habits have changed, 40% of people have said that they are listening to
podcasts more (Parkes, C. 2024e). This leaves a question, are podcasts the biggest threats
to radio?

A podcast is a form of audio content which can be listened to or downloaded from the
internet on platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Podcasts. These podcasts
normally focus on one topic for an entire episode, each podcast has its own genre, this gives
them all a place in the marketplace which they are trying to aim for. Some popular podcasts
include the likes of The Joe Rogan Experience (Parkes, C. 2024d), Newsagents and The
Diary of A CEO. There has been a massive rise in podcasts in the past few years, this is
shown by the statistics for podcasts which say that ‘Podcasts are experiencing a surge in
popularity around the world, with 61% of people, globally, reporting that they now listen to
them’ (PodKnows Podcasting, 2023) Perhaps this is because of the amount of different
podcasts that are being released but this isn’t a recent thing. An interview with Paul Fernley,
Head of Business Development and Company Director at Audio Always Said that ‘The
market has been there for 20 years but probably only over the last 5 years aided by the
pandemic’ (Parkes, C. 2024b). This is reflected from a questionnaire where the public were
asked if the amount they have listened to podcasts are increasing, decreasing or staying the
same.40% of people who answered said that the amount that they have listened to podcasts
in the past few years has increased (Parkes, C. 2024e).

Some of the reasons for the increase is that people have ‘more availability’ (Parkes, C.
2024f), I feel like the point of people having more availability does make sense, because
podcasts are unlike radio programmes where a radio programme normally has a ‘Tertiary
Audience’ (Bizmannuals, s.d), this is when the listener needs to have all their attention on
what is being said, this is unlike a radio programme where people can just have it on in the
background..

More reasons for the rise of podcasts include people discovering new platforms like ‘BBC
Sounds’ (Parkes, C. 2024f) and also people finding them ‘entertaining and informative
without having to stop my day’ (Parkes, C. 2024f). A questionnaire asked where people are
most likely to listen to a podcast, the most popular answer was on people’s phones which
has 30% of the vote (Parkes, C. 2024g), this information is linked back into the idea of it
being something that people don’t have to stop Their day for. This information brings up the
point that Podcasts are the audio industries version of things like Netflix/Amazon Prime
(RadioToday UK, 2023), and because there has been a ‘Rise in video and social media’
(RadioToday UK, 2023) people have started using apps more to find content that they want
to listen to.

This is the ‘New online audio formats including on-demand music streaming and podcasts
from both existing broadcasters and new entrants have emerged and grown rapidly’
(Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Digital Radio and Audio Review, 2022)
which is why there are multiple companies making podcasts and more celebrities who are
starting to present their own podcasts.

While ‘Podcasts are experiencing a surge in popularity around the world, with 61% of
people, globally, reporting that they now listen to them.’ (PodKnows Podcasting, 2023) and
that they are ‘particularly popular among younger demographics, as 75% of 18-24-year-olds
and 76% of 25-34-year-olds listen to podcasts’ (PodKnows Podcasting, 2023) this shows
that the older generations aren’t typically listening to podcasts as much as the younger
generation is, but ‘podcasts have a weekly reach of 19% among adults’ (PodKnows
Podcasting, 2023) instead of the 88% of adult population that listen to the radio.
Even though both of these are audio products, there are multiple different differences
between these products. When speaking to members of the general public, they have made
the points that the Radio is ‘easy listening’ (Parkes, C. 2024c) and keeps people ‘interested
and engaged’ (Parkes, C. 2024c) while they also say that they listen to podcasts when they
are ‘interested in the topic’ (Parkes, C. 2024c) and will also listen if it's something that they
have a ‘passion and interest (Parkes, C. 2024c) for. When they were asked about why they
listen to Radio, They responded with answers like radio programmes need to have ‘good
presenters and a good connection (Parkes, C. 2024c). An analysis highlights a theme of the
presenter reading out messages from the listeners, this makes a personal connection
between both the Presenter and the listener since they can message in and get a message
and have a chance of Their message being read out on the show (Parkes, C. 2024d).

During a focus group with Radio Listeners, it was identified that ‘the content needs to be
relatable’ (Parkes, C. 2024c) and that they want to be ‘educated’ throughout the programme’
(Parkes, C. 2024c). These people also had Their own thoughts on podcasts where they
think that an appealing podcast needs to have an interesting subject (Parkes, C. 2024c) and
that a podcast needs to be interesting to the listener (Parkes, C. 2024c). Another major
difference is that ‘Radio Programmes are almost always live while podcasts are recorded.
With Radio being live, they are able to inform the audience if anything important happens at
a minute's notice, this also includes live news updates that keep listeners updated at regular
intervals throughout the day’ (Parkes, C. 2024d) that is one of the major differences that
there is between both podcasts and radio Programmes.

‘Radio Programmes are genuinely longer than a podcast episode’ (Parkes, C. 2024d), This
does show the difference in listening figures because people can sit through and listen to an
entire episode of a podcast at one time but when listening to a Radio programme, most
people only catch a bit of it and don’t listen to the full episode, this is a bonus of radio to me
because people can tune in and out whenever they want, this means that the listener doesn’t
need to have Their full focus on the show.

Another major difference between both podcasts are radio programmes is that podcasts
follow one specific topic or interview just one guest, there is not much room for reach outside
that specific target audience. For most radio programmes, there is a varied amount of
content that is spread across the runtime of the programme (Parkes, C. 2024d), this means
that people who are only interested in the subject that they are talking about in that specific
episode of the podcast would listen, this is unlike a radio programme which tries to cater for
all people in the contents that it produces.

There is one major difference between both podcasts is radio programming since unlike
radio there is a large selection of podcasts that people can listen to whenever they want,
they get to choose the topic they want to listen to and they are generally faster (Wright,
Won, Trott. s.d.). But there are some downsides where the listener would have to put all
Their focus into what is being said in the podcasts, this is different to radio where people can
tune in at any time and have it on in the background.

With 40% of people who answered my questionnaire saying that the amount that they listen
to podcasts has increased by 40% (Parkes, C. 2024e), you would think that this is having a
huge impact on the popularity of Radio, but this is far from the case. The Radio Industry is
still competing with Podcasts and is still a successful part of the audio industry, this change
has meant that the radio industry has had to adapt in a way to meet the demands of its
younger audience, this could be from launching extra content in podcast format or even
putting content on social media in video format for the audience to see later.

Andrew Dubbers, in his book Radio In The Digital Age wrote ‘as long as people continued to
drive to work and were lazy about their media choices, there would be a reason for there to
be something for them just to switch on habitually’ (Dubber, 2014). A questionnaire identified
thatwhen asked why people still listen to the radio, there was a response that said ‘because I
still do the same things each day, which means I still listen to the radio’ (Parkes, C. 2024h),
this does show that the radio becomes a part of peoples days, because they listen to it at the
same time every day while doing the same thing.

Aquestionnaire asked where 60% of people who answered saying they prefer to listen to the
radio than listen to a podcast (Parkes, C. 2024f), this shows that people are not going to
stop listening to the radio because ‘Radio remains a strong, trusted medium in the UK
delivering significant public value’ (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Digital
Radio and Audio Review, 2022) which cannot be replaced with independent podcasts. One
of the main reasons why I think that the Radio Industry still has a future is because ‘Radio Is
Interactive’ (Cariffe, s.d) and that ‘Radio can be one-on-one and personal with listeners.
Shows with call-in segments give listeners an opportunity to be involved and to be heard.
Contests reward listeners for their loyalty and increase their interest in the radio station’
(Cariffe, s.d), An analysis shown this to be a large part of radio programmes, this is shown
in both The Radio One Breakfast Show with Greg James (Parkes, C. 2024d) and Sarah
Cox’s show on Radio 2 (Parkes, C. 2024d), these are both programmes that I analysed,
both of these programmes had the listeners either messaging or calling in (Parkes, C.
2024d).

This cannot be offered with podcasts, since Radio is a live media format, they can connect
with the listeners more which does create a connection between the presenters and the
listeners. When I asked some members of the general public about the amount of radio they
have listened to in the past year, the listening figures haven't changed much with 35%
listening more, 35% listening less and 30% of people having Their listening habits stay the
same (Parkes, C. 2024d), this shows that it has increased and decreased at the same rate
but that also means that more people have started listening.

When the same people were asked for a reason for their answer the responses included ‘I
still do the same things each day’ (Parkes, C. 2024h), ‘I go in the car more now so I put it on
as it’s easier to do then connect my phone to the car’ (Parkes, C. 2024h) and ‘I have
enjoyed just having the radio on in the background’ (Parkes, C. 2024h), but there were also
some other responses like ‘It’s Boring’ (Parkes, C. 2024h), ‘I’ve been listening to my own
playlists on things like Spotify’ (Parkes, C. 2024h) and that ‘I’ve been listening to podcasts
more’ (Parkes, C. 2024h). In an interview with (put name here) ‘I’d say podcasts main
competitor is platforms like Spotify and amazon music…which I guess are also our
competitors’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) from this information, it can be discovered that Podcasts
aren’t the competitor for Radio and the thing that could be a threat is platforms like Spotify
and Amazon Music because they both have a way of creating your own personalised music
playlist while also adding parts like daily news briefings which update at certain times of the
day on their playlists, this lets me know that podcasts aren’t the main threat for radio.

Radio programmes are ‘still someone speaking into a mic and people listening’ (Parkes, C.
2024a) This is a quote from Henry Louis who is a Radio 1Xtra Assistant Producer who also
said that he believes that Radio is keeping up with the current times and he thinks that the
format will always exist because there is always a requirement for it (Parkes, C. 2024a) this
shows that there is no need to change the format that Radio Programmes are produced but
Henry also made some good points on the way that radio has changed so far. One of the
ways that it has changed is bringing in more social media content surrounding the shows
that are broadcast on the station, in attention that the online content brings ‘pushes back to
the radio’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) which will bring more listeners to the programmes, the
production teams would also now have to ‘take into account it is a visual piece of work’
(Parkes, C. 2024a) and not just an audio only form of content. This all links to the new digital
online era where ‘New online audio formats including on-demand music streaming and
podcasts from both existing broadcasters and new entrants have emerged and grown
rapidly’ (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Digital Radio and Audio
Review, 2022) this means that it is incredibly important that they push Their reach online as
much as they can to get people to watch the content which will encourage them to listen to
that show, either while it’s broadcasting or on a catch-up service.

Radio is continuing to change because ‘Over the past 10 years, listening choices have
expanded greatly thanks to digital technology and in particular to the successful
development of the DAB digital radio platform. As well as online listening, there are 574
stations available on DAB across the UK’ (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport,
Digital Radio and Audio Review, 2022) this is because modern technology is one of the
main factors which is impacting Radio in the modern day, this means that they are having to
publish content online to boost the reach of the radio programmes and stations, during an
interviews, it was made clear that covid was the thing that boosted radio’s popularity
because it was ‘something that keeps them company and lets people engage in a less
dominating way’ (Parkes, C. 2024a), the most important thing that I took away from this is
that radio programming gives people a way to feel connected and this has been the way that
it has always been.

In a questionnaire people were asked how often they listen to the radio, the most popular
response was daily with 60% of people saying that they actively listen to the radio (Parkes,
C. 2024i), and another 15% of people said they listen weekly (Parkes, C. 2024i), this is
similar to the official RAJAR Figures for the third quarter which say that ‘88% of the adult
(15+) UK population tuned in to their selected radio stations each week in the third quarter of
2023 ’(RAJAR, 2023) this all could be because ‘Younger audiences who are early adopters
of on-demand audio services, sometimes at the expense of listening to live radio’
(Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Digital Radio and Audio Review, 2022)
which is expanding the popularity of the radio industry.

What is the future for radio? I decided to ask three members of the general public. The first
person thought that as ‘long as radio continues to move with the technology and reviews its
already audience while keeping references to social media, Radio will survive’ (Parkes, C.
2024c) while the second and third person both talk about if the station is staying with the
times (Parkes, C. 2024c) a big point about this is that Radio needs to continue to move with
the times, the word continue does show that it has been moving with the times so far.

During an interview with the 1Xtra Assistant Producer, it was mentioned that there could be a
possible future spread of the audience throughout the day due to people getting up later or
working from home, this means that ‘they don’t necessarily need to tune in at 7am anymore’
(Parkes, C. 2024a) which links into the fact that Radio is changing to fit into the future, this
was shown again when Henry said that ‘the most important thing is pre-recorded content’
(Parkes, C. 2024a) because ‘The way that a lot of people interact with media these days is
downloading or podcast’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) This again all shows that the radio industry is
using new technology and listening trends to make sure that they can keep up with new
formats like podcasts.

As of now, Breakfast shows are still the main thing on certain stations, but when speaking to
Henry Louis, he brought up the question of ‘will that be the same in 15 years’ (Parkes, C.
2024a) this is because of how much the radio industry has changed and will change, in the
future, there might be more focus on mood focussed listening, this has been shown already
with Radio 1 launching Radio 1 Relax and Radio 1 Dance and still planning to launch more
in the future. In written evidence to the Lords committee on the digital switchover of
Television and Radio, it is said that ‘It is clear that radio must move decisively into the digital
age. Doing so will bring important benefits for consumers and will enable radio to retain its
place at the heart of British daily life.

However, Digital Radio UK is clear that ‘the transition must be a carefully managed one:
consumers must be at its heart, and that is why we agree that criteria around coverage and
listening should be met before a switchover date is set. In order to achieve these criteria,
the radio industry (along with manufacturers, the motor industry, retailers etc) will have to
work hard, but we are ready for this challenge. We know that, for everyone involved, the
prize will be worth the effort.’ (Digital Radio UK, 2010) this shows that the way radio is
moved into the digital age is important and needs to be carefully managed, this shows that
they need to make sure that the consumers aren’t affected in any way. But there is a
question of is Radio dying because ‘In an era dominated by smartphones, streaming
services, and on-demand content, traditional radio has been grappling with a significant
decline in listenership’ (Wijesighe, 2023) but from my previous research.

I have been able to figure out that the radio industry is moving fast in this era of streaming
services and on-demand content because of the platforms like BBC Sounds and Global
Player being available on smartphones, this means that people can listen to the radio
whenever they want, which this article does back up with saying ‘Many stations now provide
online streaming options, podcast versions of popular shows, and interactive features on
their websites and social media platforms’ (Wijesighe, 2023). Within an interview with Henry
Louis, He mentioned the idea of programmes ‘Expanding into podcasts’ and ‘side projects
for presenters’ to make sure that the ‘content your putting out there isn’t solely there to exist
on the radio’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) this is a good point which shows that the way forward for
radio is to create and expand content in the digital world, this could include uploading that
content on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, or even as Henry said ‘we need to have our
own podcasts alongside that and we need to have kind of like, exclusive podcasts with
content that isn’t necessarily on air already’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) this gives people an
incentive to listen to a radio programme that they wouldn’t normally listen to because They
have seen the content that is on the shows, this also gives them something to expect to hear
when listening to the show.

But is there a place for Radio in the future? Well the RAJAR figures show that ‘Radio
listening remains steadfast at 49.5 million people, representing 88% of the adult population’
(Martin, 2023) this shows that there are still a high number of people who are still listening to
radio, which does show that the rise of podcasts isn’t a threat to radio. This is because Radio
is reaching more people than podcasts are. When interviewing Henry Louis, He said that He
doesn’t think that ‘Radio and Podcasts need to compete’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) because ‘they
are different mediums’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) and also that He thinks ‘without podcasts
existing, radio’s listenership would still go down because of the way people consume stuff’
(Parkes, C. 2024a) this shows that podcasts aren’t a threat to the future of Radio but the
digital technology is.

As Paul Fernley from AudioAlways said that He doesn’t think it will be easy for ‘small
podcasters to cut through in a busy market’ (Parkes, C. 2024b) which does show that at
some point. All this information is showing me that there isn’t a threat to Radio in the future
by podcasts. The sensible route for ensuring that there is a future for the radio industry is to
‘make content available in as many different formats as possible’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) and
that ‘there’s a logic to making sure that the content is on as many apps as possible’ (Parkes,
C. 2024a) which the industry is already doing, this is expanding the reach for Radio in the
future with multiple different ways to listen to a Radio programme in the digital age’.

There is the case that people could make that the format of Radio where people sit down
and listen to something could get outdated, but ‘Radio is adaptable. Radio has evolved with
the times and embraced the new technologies and platforms that have emerged. Radio can
now be accessed through digital streaming, podcasts, social media, and more. Radio can
also integrate with other media forms, such as video, graphics, text, and more’ (QVT Media,
2023) this means that the way the radio programmes are delivered can always be changed,
this could be as video feeds online and even short clips from the programmes put on social
media platforms.

With the radio industry moving quickly into a digital age, Henry Louis said that there is a
chance that ‘in the future there will be much less emphasis on things like RAJARs or
emphasis on downloads and activations on smart speakers and things like that’ (Parkes, C.
2024a) this hints that the traditional idea of someone listening from a radio will somewhat
fade out, instead more people will be listening on digital platforms like smart speakers or
radio player apps. I also believe that this would lead to more people listening to a show on
catch up services instead of listening while it is live.

Overall, I have found evidence for and against Radio having a future in the digital age, this
includes the different figures that show listening figures and demographics, I have gotten
insight from professionals in the industry and also views from people who aren’t in the
industry. With the information that I have gathered, I am able to come to a conclusion of the
question Does Radio Have A Future In The Digital Age. The first thing I show mentioned is
this was the quote by Henry Louis, when he said that ‘People always say it’s going to die’
(Parkes, C. 2024a) but ‘it’s always going to have a space it’s just whether or not certain
spaces or certain mediums still exist’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) this brings up a main point that
Radio isn’t going to die, but the ways people listen to it might change. I can also currently
say that Radio isn’t dying. In a questionnaire that I created, I asked the question of ‘Do You
prefer Radio or Podcasts’, with 60% of the people who took part in the questionnaire saying
they prefer Radio.

I can confidently say that the podcast industry isn’t a threat to the radio industry at all. This
information is backed by ‘88% of the adult population listens to Radio Programming’ (Martin,
2023) this still shows that radio is still popular and still has a large audience that is wanting to
listen to it. With the evidence that I gathered about the radio industry ‘Expanding into
podcasts’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) and putting out content that ‘isn’t solely there to exist on the
radio’ (Parkes, C. 2024a) In conclusion, the radio industry is well equipped to move into the
digital age. With podcasts not being a threat, I do believe that the radio industry is going to
live alongside the podcast industry which will lead to more opportunities opening up within
the industry. The only threat I’ve identified , not just to radio but podcasts as well, are music
streaming services like Spotify, because people can get everything they would normally get
on the radio while also listening to the songs that they want to listen to.