Content by Anthony Dockrill

Podcasting has been a tremendous boon for the audio industry, it has set people free to pursue ideas outside of what was considered best practice, and it has also opened the door to many people who would never have found an opening or even a foothold in the radio industry. For the radio industry, it has been a net positive, but it has also disrupted the industry and upturned many long-held beliefs.

One idea that I want to write about is the loss of faith in local content. Podcasts are, by and large, not tied to any location. If I want to do a Lego podcast, I can be talking to Lego enthusiasts all around the world, so where I am making my podcast becomes a minor detail. Radio, in comparison, is at its best when it’s clearly local. The medium itself builds the link to the local because if you are listening to it, it normally means you are some kilometres away from the station’s antenna. In turn, this need to be near the place of broadcast means the medium is connected and engaged with your world—not the Lego project in your head, but the streets you walk down and the community you call home.

So I want to write about networking and why it’s not necessarily in the radio industry’s best interests. A major story in the industry for some time now has been the lack of success for Sydney titans Kyle and Jackie O, and now we have the news that the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show is replacing Jonesy and Amanda on Sydney’s Gold 101.7 in 2026. So despite the troubles Kyle and Jackie O have had in Melbourne, the networking bug is not going away in breakfast.

One of the most valuable commodities in radio is talent, so it makes sense when you have it you want to spread it around as much as possible. The problem with networking is you end up with radio from nowhere. Yes, you can hide this by cutting to local news and local traffic updates, but audiences, of course, know if you are part of their community or coming in through the pipe.

Lots of ink has been spilt on why Kyle and Jackie O hasn’t been successful in Melbourne, and there will be multiple reasons why, but the narrative that they are not a fit for Melbourne is possibly missing something about radio’s local advantage. Local breakfast shows have roots. Roots that cover multiple parts of the community. Kyle and Jackie O have been growing roots in Sydney for many years, while in Melbourne they have none, and piping it in won’t build roots. This doesn’t mean networking can’t work, but it does point to a natural disadvantage, especially in competitive time slots like breakfast.

I’m of the belief radio should be leaning into what makes it unique rather than what makes it more like most audio content that is flooding people’s phones.

Live local content isn’t easy, but it’s a point of difference in a market saturated with choice. Why should someone on their commute listen to your breakfast show when they can listen to Diary of a CEO or The Mel Robbins Podcast? Especially if you are just piping in your content.

If you went back 15 or so years in time, everyone was predicting the death of the book and bookshops. It’s true to say that it has been a tough time for the business of books, but they are still here. I was in a bookshop on the weekend. Yes, there is now a technological fix to the book, but they remain because they still work for many people. Radio needs to acknowledge why it’s still here and relevant over 100 years from its invention—because it works.

If people are turning on radios ten years from now, it will be for pretty much the same reasons they do today. So, why did you turn on the radio today? Let’s take a guess—you were looking for connection, entertainment and a place you feel like you belong.

If you remove the connection and place either through over-reliance on networking or a misunderstanding of what radio is, don’t be surprised if your audience drifts away into their playlists.

Anthony Dockrill is a Digital Producer at Pod Jam and the former Program Director of 2SER FM Sydney.

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