It was noted and accepted by many that TV had indeed killed the radio star, and many radio stations looked to other forms of broadcasting to make their money. Then the internet arrived, and it was argued that radio and perhaps even TV were things of the past as the information superhighway developed and became the source of all entertainment and fun. This article looks at how radio has made a sustained comeback, and although it is in a different guise, radio as we knew it is back, and back with a bang.
Music listenership has grown
The argument has been that we can now access all the music we want to over streaming services such as Spotify, and this was the impetus for many radio stations to simply close and shut shop. However, there have been those that went online and survived. In fact, streaming radio listenership has grown as more people log in and tune in to their favorite radio DJs.
Traditional advertising
As streaming radio listenership grows and expands, the radio has once more become one of the key forms of advertising and marketing. It just makes sense that if streamed radio listenership increases, so does the potential to reach new and available markets and buyers for products and services. Knowing, for example, how to advertise on SiriusXM is one of the questions that those in the know are asking as the station and its shows start to reach listenership levels only previously seen at the big live radio stations of the past.
Known radio personalities now have streamed online shows
There have been a number of top radio personalities that have moved into the streamed radio space. Listeners have followed them, and there are shows, podcasts, and live radio that now reach more people over the internet than any other form of listenership.
Top musicians are releasing directly on streamed radio
The ability to have your music released and played on streamed radio is now becoming a hot trend amongst musicians and producers alike. They have realized the viability and importance of this audience and have begun to reach out to streamed radio shows to start making an impression in the sector.
It is a dilemma to pigeonhole the new forms of radio that have emerged. Many argue that they still constitute a traditional form of advertising, while there are those who will argue that because it is now accessed online, streamed radio has begun to breach the gap and is actually a hybrid form of marketing and entertainment. Both traditional and digital.Â
Radio is back, and back for good. It may have seemed like the more interactive and engaging forms of entertainment and the visual nature of television had changed and done away with the need for radio. How wrong we were, and radio has used the internet to grow and evolve into something quite different and yet still playing the best of the latest music and allowing the best talk hosts to redefine the genre.
