The Power of Radio in The Digital Age

In a world obsessed with things that are new and digital, can a medium of entertainment that’s been around longer than most people on the plant stand up in the modern-day? You may be surprised to know that it can.

Radio in 2019

While many out there may think that radio is dying out, after all, we regularly hear about the dropping figures on radio shows – something that’s particularly prevalent once a new presenter takes over the Radio1 Breakfast Show. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, radio is still one of the most popular mediums of entertainment in the UK, with nine in ten people (88% of the UK population) tuning into live radio each week in Q3 of 2019.

A 20-year high, this averages at 20.4 hours per week. But, there’s one difference to the way it was twenty years ago, many people are now listening digitally.

The changing face of radio

It would appear that everything goes digital, radio is moving with the times, with more and more consumers now connecting to their favourite radio shows, or discovering them, through modern-day devices.

In the third quarter of 2019, it was found that those listening to radios on connected devices, whether that’s online or through an app continued to increase for the third year. It now stands at 13%, rising from 9.6%.

Meanwhile, digital listening accounted for 52.4% with 65% of the population tuning into digital radio each week.

Because of this, a number of changes are starting to be seen, with advertisers getting savvier with their targeting at specific audiences and the BBC losing its dominance as more radios popped up – something that can be assisted by modern-day tech such as an RF generator.

Why is it still important?

While this all sounds great, there are reasons why radio has continued to be popular, causing millions of people to tune in and why no one should count it out yet.

But, what reasons could they be? Three of the key reasons for the sustained popularity of radio include:

It’s live

One of the best things about radio is it’s there and now. In a world where podcasts and music can be accessed wherever and TV can be filmed for a later date or binged in one go, there’s something magic and connective about tuning in and listening with everyone else. This sense of community coupled with the unscripted nature of radio is part of what’s help it to stand the test of time

International airwaves

When news happens everywhere, we always turn to the internet to get it. But, radio allows you to listen 24-hours a day much more effectively as internet and phone access can be blocked much easier than international airwaves can.

Great for businesses

Finally, in a world saturated with advertising and audiences becoming harder and harder to reach, radio still comes out as a great source of investment for advertisers.

Relatively cost-effective compared to a number of other advertising methods, and with other avenues, such as social media advertising being easy to forget as companies attempt to cast their net wide, radio advertising is different. Radio channels have core audiences, which allows you to find your audience in a much easier way than you would via Facebook or Instagram. It’s even been found that radio campaigns can boost ROI by 8% when compared to those that don’t use radio within their campaigns.

Despite being in 2019, it would appear that old school radio is still giving all the new mediums of entertainment a run for their money, as it continues to change with the times and prove its worth.