Are more or less people listening to radio, and has new media finally begun to kill it off.

Video was supposed to kill the radio star when MTV began, but the industry rebounded and is still here.

Podcasts and on-demand audio were seen as the next threats, but once again, radio outsmarted them by not only joining the podcast and on-demand audio bandwagon, but driving content.

In a recent article, ARN’s Client Strategy Director, Tegan Kirkby (pictured), says that “New media only kills old media when the content is the same – and audio is literally booming.”

 In a 2019 interview, Director of Research, Technology & Media at Deloitte, Duncan Stewart, said, “Why do people think that nobody listens to radio anymore? Because there is a narrative that new media kills old media, so nobody bothers to look at evidence that doesn’t fit the narrative.”

Kirkby says she regularly faces this type on inquiry, or if people are listening to both podcasts and radio which is usually followed by “Should I be splitting my spend? Or moving my budgets?”

While acknowledging that there are undeniable instances of old-media kill-offs, like the end of video stores, the collapse of printed newspapers and demise of weekly tabloids, she says audio in 2021 has diversified, so things aren’t so black and white.

According to Kirkby, when it comes to podcasts and radio, one hasn’t killed the other because they serve completely different purposes.

Radio allows listeners to stay connected, for a familiar and trusted voice and informative, up to date content. Radio has also remained nimble and has adapted to what consumers want – diversified versions of radio content such as Catch-Up podcasts, for example, feature behind-the-scenes edits that aren’t available live on air and make for a more intimate listen.

Listeners turn to music streaming to escape to be uplifted, energised, motivated or taken away.

While podcasts give a more specific, engaged listening experience, to learn, be enriched, enthused, hear points of view or hear from people we greatly admire or can relate to.

And Kirkby makes the point that, “You can’t get a podcast on the radio. You can’t choose a music playlist in your podcast. And you can’t expect your music playlist to tell you the latest news.

 “Which means none of these can replace the other.”

And to back it up, she adds these statistics:

• Overall linear radio listening has grown 9.8 per cent* in the last five years – with new ways of enjoying radio content opening the gates to this even further, including a 58 per cent** YoY increase in listening to radio via a smart speaker.
• Podcast consumption is positively surging – growing 53 per cent from 2020 – 2021, with 26 per cent of all Australians now listening to podcasts weekly.^
• While video-based music access has seen declines in consumption for the last three years, Australia’s biggest audio-centric streaming services have almost doubled their weekly listener numbers across the same time period.°

_Sources:

_{* GfK Radio Ratings | 2017-2021 | Surveys 1-2, 6-8 2020 and Surveys 1-4 2021, NB: Like-for-like comparisons made based on cancellation of Surveys 3, 4 & 5 2020 (Surveys 3-5 2020 did not occur due to COVID-19 restrictions).}

_{**CRA | Media Release | Radio sees increase in mobile and smart speaker listening, February 2021.}

_{^ Edison Research – The Infinite Dial 2021 | Total Australian Population 12+ per cent listen to a podcast in last week.}

_{° Edison Research – The Infinite Dial 2021 | Total Australian population 12+  per cent used YouTube for music or music videos in last week | Total Australian population 12+  per cent listened to online audio streaming service in last week.}