What can the Radio do to be eternal?
The web invades the world, ratings drop, and solutions are needed: this is how a means of communication with a beautiful story can survive
Radio is a beautiful means of communication, with an incredible story and for which I have a great love. It is undeniable that this powerful medium now faces new and difficult challenges in order not to risk ending up like the dinosaurs. The web invades everyday life, ratings drop and solutions need to be found.
Situation
Radio is still quite rooted in people’s lives, accompanying them, especially when traveling by car. Of course, listeners who turn it on at home and programs that know how to create a sense of community in the audience also resist.
Today, however, the new technologies and therefore the competitors of the ether are fierce. Those who want to listen to music have a thousand channels available, especially on the phone but also on PC and TV, to listen to all the songs in the world with a few clicks. Meanwhile, the world of audio is in turmoil with podcasts, audiobooks, and social media. It is said that 2022 will be the year of the voice.
Ratings
The data show that the radio population continues to decline: in Italy in the last semester, according to the surveys, 736 thousand listeners were lost compared to the same period in 2020 and it is even a positive number if we consider that between 2019 and last year more than 3 million and 400 thousand users were lost on an average day.
It will be the fault of the pandemic that restricts people’s movements but, in reality, it is a trend that has been going on for some time, at least since streaming and digital platforms have begun to take hold.
Web
The decline in FM in favor of portals such as Spotify and YouTube is increasingly evident: this is also certified by the latest statistics released at the end of 2021 in reference to the situation in America over the last three years. These are the direct competitors of radio, from streaming to podcasts: to enjoy music, a few clicks or taps on the phone are now enough and you can reach any artist at any time of the day, without effort, whether you are at home, outside, or by car.
Paradoxically, it seems that the Internet has not been as fruitful with the virtual projection of the ether: web radios, which it was assumed could give new life to broadcasters also on electronic devices, have so far not taken root enough, at least in Italy.
Solutions
How can you resist the web, streaming, and Bluetooth? Radio must reinvent itself once again, renew and reborn like a phoenix from its own ashes, before the virtual world and the Metaverse take it all. There may be a way. In my opinion, radio can put up its stoic resistance by giving the best of itself. In this historical period in which songs are free, and within reach for everyone, perhaps they can no longer represent a “mission” for broadcasters.
The radio will probably be forced to put music aside a bit: radios and broadcasts capable of offering quality information in real-time could be destined for long life, a segment in which digital services still struggle to hit the mark. Even the programs that have strong personalities from the world of entertainment, the voice, and society have the cards to withstand time: their shows will continue to thrill the most die-hard fans.
Finally, it would be important that the radio was able to recur also from a technical point of view, affirming itself in some way on the new platforms: many broadcasters, for example, are trying to transform their broadcasts into the direct video on Twitch streaming portal, famous for direct monetization of creators. In times of war, everything is valid and nothing can remain unturned.
