If you haven’t seen, the internet decided that “2026 is the new 2016.” The spark came from a few viral videos in late December, most notably by TikTok users who posted meme montages from 2016. It quickly snowballed into a “Great Meme Reset,” with people pledging to post like it’s 2016 again.
Most of us joined in on the fun with our own 2016 posts. A lot of us got to see how we evolved as individuals in our professional and personal lives.
I thought about where our industry was in 2016 vs. where it is today. Radio already knew the issues then. The story is what we did – or didn’t – do next. Let’s take a look.
Here’s what mattered to us, as an industry, in 2016:
We were obsessed with delivery methods and protecting market share against newcomers like Spotify and Pandora.
- Radio’s biggest fear was losing its “real estate” in car dashboards. In 2016, broadcasters were lobbying car manufacturers to keep AM/FM tuners prominent alongside Apple CarPlay.
- 2016 was the year radio companies got serious about podcast networks and building shows around their key personalities. The goal was to “own” the on-demand space before it owned them.
- Success was measured by cume. Stations were still trying to be “everything to everyone” to maintain decent ratings.
- Stations were frantically launching their own apps and HD channels to prove they were tech-savvy.
Now, in 2026, the focus has shifted from how people listen to why they listen. In a world full of AI-generated content, radio is doubling down on being “live and local.”
In 2026, with AI voices quickly becoming indistinguishable from real ones, radio’s biggest asset is the unscripted human personality. Stations are guiding personalities to be less polished and more authentic—the opposite of the “Radio Voice” of 2016 and earlier. Case in point, iHeart’s “guaranteed human” promise.
Broadcasters no longer try to compete with Spotify’s infinite library. Instead, they are focusing on the personal connection with the listener. Success is measured by how engaged a listener is, rather than just raw numbers. Ratings still mean something, but that engagement is bringing some results.
The hardware is changing. In 2016, you needed a studio with racks of servers. In 2026, the “brain” of the station is moving to the cloud. Talent is learning to broadcast from a home studio or a pop-up event with the same quality as a major station.
In 2016, everyone heard the same car dealership commercial everywhere. Today, digital radio can use actionable intelligence. Using data from smart speakers and car sensors, stations are working to serve different ads to different listeners based on their location, the weather, or even their current mood.
There have been wins we don’t talk about enough. Stations that have leaned into personalities and are winning. There is, at least, one example in each of the top 100 markets. Morning shows have become content engines using video, podcasting, and other means of personal connection with the audience. Companies are proving that local still works. The newest shining example is Jeff Warsaw’s new Connoisseur Media configuration of stations.
When radio commits, it still has the edge.
There has been an unfinished “To-Do” List between 2016 and now. Understand that this is not about failure, but it is about a delay. Our industry has never lacked vision, but we have lacked a real sense of urgency in some cases. There are some “conversations” we have ignored.
- “Streaming isn’t the enemy… but it is the benchmark.” I still hear radio station streams with lots of technical glitches, repeating the same spots, and poor audio quality. We need to tend to our streams as much or more than the on-air “transmitted” product.
- “Gen-Z’s don’t discover media the way the older audience did.” Most of radio has given up on this group, when they really make up its future. They don’t see radio as “uncool”. They just don’t see it. It’s our job to change that.
“Personalities are the crucial ingredient” – Even though there are cases of some groundbreaking talent out there, companies continue to cut on-air talent to save money.
Radio hasn’t dismissed the warnings; we just keep rescheduling them.
Technology hasn’t slowed us down. It’s been caution.
The question isn’t what radio was in 2016, it’s whether 2036 will say we finally listened. If 2016 was about fear of the new, 2026 is about mastery of the mess.
