A Friendly Reality Check for Radio
I read a lot of research about radio. Probably more than the average person should. Edison Research, Nielsen, Jacobs, Techsurvey, dashboards, share charts, AQH, cume, reach, etc. If it’s published, chances are I’ve looked at it.
And if you follow industry headlines, you’ve seen the same claim repeated over and over: The majority of in-car listening is still AM/FM radio, Radio dominates ad-supported audio in the car, Radio remains the number-one reach medium.
Those statements are usually backed by legitimate research. I’ve seen the Edison numbers. I’ve seen the Nielsen numbers. I’m not here to say the data is fake, wrong, or manipulated. But I do want to say something that might make some people uncomfortable. At some point, I have to believe my own eyes. And my own experience tells me a very different story.
The Problem With What We’re Telling Ourselves
In my personal life, I am the only person I know who listens to AM/FM radio in the car. Not the only one sometimes. Not the only one most of the time. The only one. And it’s been this way for years. My wife listens to Spotify. My mom listens to Spotify. My friends listen to Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and maybe a little bit of podcasts.
Yet I constantly read articles saying radio dominates in-car listening.
Again, the research may be correct within the way it’s measured. But the way we talk about it inside the industry can become misleading, especially when we repeat the headline without thinking about the context.
One example is the phrase “ad-supported audio.” That qualifier matters more than we sometimes admit.
Spotify alone has well over 200 million paid subscribers worldwide. Those listeners are not counted as ad-supported audio. Apple Music isn’t counted. SiriusXM paid tiers often aren’t counted the same way. Podcasts without ads aren’t counted. Downloads aren’t counted.
So when we say radio dominates ad-supported listening, that can be true. But, it’s ignoring a massive amount of actual listening that has moved elsewhere. That distinction may make sense in a research report. But when we repeat the headline without the nuance, we risk telling ourselves a story that feels better than reality. And if you’re in broadcast media sales like myself, you run the risk of sounding silly in front of clients.
I love radio. I sell radio. I write about radio. I believe in radio as much as anyone. But loving radio shouldn’t mean we stop being honest about where we stand. If you spend any time outside of the industry bubble, you see things that charts don’t always show. You see bands like the Red Clay Strays or Billy Strings (who aren’t really on radio) selling out arenas. You see adults who haven’t touched a preset button in years. You see cars where the first thing people do is plug in a phone, not turn on the dial.
This doesn’t mean radio is dead, and it doesn’t mean radio is irrelevant. It also doesn’t mean the research is useless. It just means the landscape is changing faster than our messaging sometimes admits. And if we keep telling ourselves we’re still the default, we may miss the chance to become something even better.
If Radio Wants to Win, We Have to Do Two Things
I’m not writing this to be negative. I’m writing this because I believe radio still has a huge opportunity. But if we want to win, we have to do two things.
First, we have to be intellectually honest about the audio landscape. That means reading the research carefully. That means acknowledging where listening is growing and where it isn’t.. That means noticing who’s selling out concerts in our own backyards.
Second, we have to start casting a much deeper net. Radio can’t just think of itself as a frequency on a dashboard anymore. We have to think of ourselves as audio brands, content brands, personality brands, community brands. And, if your respective station is a music format – You have to understand that you’re no longer the gatekeeper of music. We (radio) need those artists more than they need us now.
I Still Believe in Radio
Despite everything I just said, I still believe in radio.
And, even though I just went “hard in the paint” I know many amazing radio stations that have lots of listeners. I happen to work for some. I believe in the power of personalities. I believe in the power of local connection. I believe in the power of a medium that can reach thousands of people at the exact same moment.
When radio is honest, creative, and willing to adapt, it’s still one of the most powerful media platforms there is. Cast deeper nets programming-wise, dominate social media, and lean into the human element of personalities.
In addition to the dis-qualifier “ad supported” in making the #1 claim, I also cringe when I see AM/FM radio all the time. As if listening to AM radio were on par with listening to FM radio. It’s not.
AM radio’s time has come and gone as the mass communication delivery system it was from the 1920s to the 1970s, much as radio replaced vaudeville.
To put things in perspective, at a time in America’s radio history when the number of FM signals equaled the number of AM signals on the air, 75% of all radio listening was to FM. So, you can only imagine what it’s like today for AM radio listening when FM signals outnumber AM signals by four and a half times in the USA. (FCC BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF JUNE 30, 2018: 4,633 AM signals / 20,758 FM signals)
That’s why I believe we do no service in promoting radio as “AM/FM” and not being honest about where virtually all of the radio listening is really taking place.
Sadly, AM radio is to broadcasting as coal is to power generation. It was the perfect solution in its day.
When we sell radio advertising and are not honest with our clients, we pay the price.
Thanks for the comment, Josh. Though I sympathize and understand, I believe you’re unnecessarily gloomy. Why? Because I began predicting the death of radio when Napster hit the world in 1999. 27 years later, radio has changed, radio has lost influence, but radio still does one thing better than any other advertising medium: “Make Local Businesses Famous.”
Events like Hurricane Helene in September 2024 demonstrate why radio still stands alone as a means of delivering local information and connecting a community. Now, I write radio ads for a living, so I may be a little biased. Yet, by any objective measure, radio remains the single most cost-effective way for a local business to persuade a local audience. If you own a local business and you want your business to be the one people know best, like most and think of first, the best platform for getting you there is local radio. That fact is not remotely debatable. I prove it with my clients over and over, month after month, year after year. Until that changes, I will remain bullish on the future of radio.
I agree 100%. Drop the “ad supported” language nonsense from the descriptive to see the reality. It’s time to stop lying to ourselves. I’m constantly asking people what they listen to in the car…90% say anything other than am/fm radio. Most listen to their own Playlist on whatever streaming platform they are hooked on. Wake up and smell the coffee.
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