The internet’s impact on radio stations over the last decade

While we can’t imagine radio will be going anywhere anytime soon, the internet has had a major impact on how radio broadcasters operate.

While there are still people tuning in to the radio daily, how people consume radio is changing. Many radio stations are now competing with new tech that they didn’t need to concern themselves with before.

On this page, we want to discuss the impact that the internet has had on radio stations throughout the world. You’ll see how radio stations have needed to adapt to the changing tech world.

People now access radio stations online

Perhaps the biggest change in the world of radio is the fact that stations have needed to go online. Gone are the days when you needed to get the exact frequency on your radio tuner (remember that?) or scan for the radio station using your DAB radio, since most radio stations are now broadcast online.

This has had two effects. Firstly, it has increased the number of radio stations people have access to (we shall discuss that one shortly), but also it has allowed people to start up their radio stations at a far lower cost. This means that there are now hundreds of radio stations and shows that people otherwise wouldn’t have had access to. We like to compare this to the world of online casinos, such as those found at NewCasinos, where people now have more options than ever before. People love choice. This has enabled more niche radio stations to thrive.

Access to the internet online means people can now access multiple radio stations through most of their devices.

Streaming services have reduced the demand for radio stations

Let’s be honest, most people probably tune in to the radio to listen to some music. Yeah, there is always a place for radio stations like BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live, which have no music, but most people just want to listen to music.

Streaming services, such as Spotify, have made it easier for people to choose the music they can listen to. They don’t have to listen to whatever, let’s say Ken Bruce, has decided you should be listening to.

This does mean that radio stations have needed to come up with unique content to try and keep people listening. 

International radio is now a thing

We think one of the better effects that the internet has had on radio is the fact that people can now easily access radio stations across the globe. If you use something like TuneIn or BBC Sounds, you can listen to pretty much any radio station you want. You couldn’t do this before – a couple of decades ago, if you weren’t within range of the radio tower pumping out the station, you had no hope of tuning in unless you had some pretty sophisticated equipment.

More choice is always a good thing for the listener, and we are starting to notice that some radio stations are now playing into their increased international listener base, with some even developing specific international options for their listeners so ads can be tailored to their new fanbase. Take BBC Radio, for instance. It is against the rules for them to advertise in the UK. However, they operate advertising for their international listeners, which has enabled BBC Radio to make money that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.

We are noticing that a lot of people are listening to international radio for a multitude of reasons. Some want to discover new content, while others want to use international radio to learn a new language.

Podcasts are essential for radio stations

Nearly all of the major radio station shows are now available in podcast form. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. They provide a way of advertising radio stations for new listeners. After all, if you listen to a podcast that covers the ‘best part’ of a radio station’s show and it is pretty funny, people may end up tuning in to the full show.
2. It allows radio stations to make more money on their shows, since they are likely to get more podcast downloads than actual listeners to their radio station. Plus, podcasts are far more likely to reach an international audience. This means new potential listeners.

This is one of the areas where radio stations are starting to lean into changing tech. They know they can’t beat the podcast world, so they join them.

Unique content

Radio stations need unique content that will keep people tuning in. This is why many radio stations are still hiring big names for their shows, despite advertising revenue plummeting. It is also why radio stations are coming up with new concepts (eg quizzes, radio call-ins etc) that make people feel like they really need to tune in to a particular show.

Radio stations now have more unique content than ever before. Find your favourite radio station and look at their schedule. Look how many ‘theme’ shows there are now.

Final thoughts 

As we said at the start, we don’t think radio will disappear anytime soon. It is essential, but radio stations need to adapt to the impact the internet has had on them. This means veering toward podcasts, unique content and a change in the way they play music. If they can keep this up, radio stations can easily live alongside the internet.