The medium of radio is no longer just the radio as previous generations knew it, because radio has become audio, offering a whole range of possibilities for listeners. A radio station today is an „entertainment company“ and, despite negative forecasts, has repeatedly risen from the ashes like a phoenix in recent years. Although the comparison is flawed, because radio was never gone. It was always there and is rightly considered the number one daily companion medium.
Lived emotions
My 9-year-old son is no longer used to getting up every morning of the week and heading to the stereo to turn on the radio and wake up to my favourite morning show. He is used to telling the smart speaker in the living room what music he wants to listen to, depending on his mood. At the same time, he gets the latest weather information so that he knows whether he can take the scooter to school or whether he should take the bus. Nevertheless, there is a lot of radio in addition to audio. The presenters of various favourite stations „talk to him“, offering him competitions or concert tickets, for which he is still too young, but he likes this dialogue, even if it doesn't take place physically. „They talk to me and I like that,“ says the primary school pupil, reflecting what radio still stands for: Interaction with the audience and the great art of a mass medium to pick up every listener where he or she is at the moment.
Few notice the complex strategic processes, market analyses, and marketing measures behind it, neither the 9-year-old nor other people for whom radio is still fascinating. Video killed the Radio Star? Certainly not!
Radio builds trust and, compared to playlists from Spotify and others, is neither faceless nor impersonal. The much-quoted content is „king“ and ensures that people listen again. Radio is lived emotion that is contagious and, especially through many new features like podcasts, on-demand content, but also creative major promotions, cannot be pigeonholed into an old drawer that is only occasionally and grudgingly opened.
Radio: a must-have in the car
According to Rajar, the official British body for surveying radio usage, 89% of the adult UK population listened to the radio at least once a week in 1999. In 2021, over two decades later, listenership has remained consistent. Streaming may present a new challenge, but radio, contrary to many predictions, is refusing to „back down.“.
The automotive industry and the radio sector also benefit from each other. According to an international study published by Edison Research in November 2021, radio remains the most popular source of in-car entertainment worldwide. 90 percent, meaning almost all those who participated in the survey, were of the opinion that radio should be standard equipment in every car. A trend that is consistent across all age groups and indicates strong demand among current and future car buyers.
What's more: when considering the most valued standard audio features in a new car, the radio ranked highest for respondents (rated „important“ by 89 percent) followed by USB ports (86 percent) and the availability of Bluetooth (85 percent). Far behind these was the importance of so-called smartphone mirroring technology (Android Auto 65 percent, Apple CarPlay 54 percent).
The power of radio in the car and what „Radioplayer Worldwide“ can currently achieve in relation to the automotive industry is demonstrated in this Video.
Innovation and challenge
The pandemic has also shown us that radio is an indispensable part of everyday life. People want to be addressed and touched by content. No playlist in the world is able to create this emotional bridge like radio does every day. Perhaps radio people have underestimated the rise of smart speakers in one place or another, or even slept through it, as evil tongues claim. But I don't believe that. We who love radio and make radio just need to stop constantly seeing the technologically dominated digital audio world as a threat, but rather as an opportunity. Above all, we need to stop complaining. Instead, we should look at what the market has to offer and develop it further in our favour and to the best of our abilities. We radio makers don't have to be able to do everything ourselves and manage everything on our own, but rather leave the foxhole and pull together with the experts from the technology sector, develop innovations and drive forward the benefits in favour of our radio industry. Radio has lost none of its appeal and can move people like never before. Let's have the courage to break new ground and not close our minds to overly technical-sounding developments!
Artificial intelligence (AI) doesn't have to mean a doomsday scenario or lead to job cuts. AI can be used in a resource-efficient way. Resources that are needed elsewhere in turn.
Als sich ein Grosser Teil der Welt mit dem Thema KI auseinandersetzte, RIG Radio Innovations GmbH along with her partner, aprile consulting GmbH in one of the past „RIG Brunches“Busy.
Yours truly Andrea Heidrich
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