Agreed. I either listen to DAB+ or online. I only listen to FM & AM only as a last resort.
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I’d listen to DAB, if we had it at all. More variety is a good thing
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Another DAB+ listener here, both in the car and the house.
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I reckon had DAB+ been rolled out regionally about a decade back, it would have a significantly higher market share than it has in metro areas. Regional radio (particularly commercial radio) isn’t exactly abundant with variety- having extra options covering genres that are neglected on analogue radio would have certainly helped gain listener interest and boost uptake.
Sadly that boat has long sailed now I think. Streaming (and the virtually unlimited choices that come with it) is getting to the point where within a decade or so I can see LEO orbital networks providing internet radio connectivity even in the remotest of areas.
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anyone else think the frequency of ratings and the sole focus on them is harming the industry? I get why they are there but by focusing on them, shows are not being given time to breathe and organically grow an audience.
Another thing harming the future of radio is networking. more and more regional stations are being networked and it’s killing the talent pipeline.
I know good radio people ive worked with who have left the industry (and not just on air talent but producers, panel ops and even techs) because there is no work for them due to networking
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That’s probably the major problem for the future.
You hear a lot of big name announcers say they had their start at a regional station.
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Lee Sims when he ran his radio school in Brisbane used to often bang on about how ‘ratings were the death of radio’. He would often talk about how much better radio would be if there weren’t any ratings.
And commercial radio would probably be even better without the ad breaks. But we need the ad breaks to pay the bills. And the advertisers genuinely want to know how well we’re doing (they truly do). Hence the ratings.
Some of the best radio I’ve heard was from low ranking shows. The Top Marks at 89X played on the fact they were 'Auckland’s worst rated breakfast show), rose to #1 by playing on their underdog status. Scott Shannon when he went to Mojo Radio in New York would always mention how he was ‘Arbitron rated #17’… so yeah, sometimes low ratings can be used to your advantage. But it’s still ratings.
Yeah, but we can’t get too nostalgic. Most of these regional stations are fairly recent additions to the landscape. When I first came to Australia the Gold Coast had one commercial licence. People talk about this as the ‘golden age of radio’. If regional people have more and more choice and if that choice is now higher quality radio based out of a capital city then the listener is the winner in the end.
True. But are the jobs that have been lost from stations that didn’t even exist a generation ago? Overall, the industry is in a season of contraction. And we all tend to blame technology for that.
There is nothing new under the sun.
In 1969, radio networks across the US started networking automated programming. For example the ABC radio network: WABC-FM and its sister stations—KABC-FM in Los Angeles; WLS-FM in Chicago; KGO-FM in San Francisco; WXYZ-FM in Detroit; KQV-FM in Pittsburgh; and KXYZ-FM—began carrying an automated, youth-oriented, progressive rock format known as Love.
But after a few years ABC dropped Love and installed completely live-and-local, freeform rock formats.
It’s a bit like how MMM went national with its networking back in 1995. Everything was national (like the JJJ model as the new PD was ex-JJJ). We had the Richard Stubbs breakfast show in Mebourne, Sydney and Brisbane and then national programming 24/7.
It didn’t last. These things are cyclical. We have centralistion, then decentralisation.
The future of radio is very much national networking. Then it’ll be live and local. Then back again. These things are seasonal.
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Discussion about the future of radio on a recent episode of McKnight Tonight (starts at 23:03).
‘The value of local radio to regional audiences’ - what a great topic, I hope he does well. Interesting what he said about his old mate Kyle. Some good insights there.
As to the future of radio, one wonders about the value of local radio to city audiences as well. There’s a dissertation for someone. Doers it really matter to people in Adelaide that their breakfast radio is coming from Melbourne? Or to the people in Perth that their drive shift is also coming from Melbourne?
The answer is, no one cares.
But eight years of qualitative research will prove this, so it will all be worthwhile.
I care. A lot.
Unless it’s Radio National, breakfast should be local from all stations and there should be significant chunks of other local programming throughout the day.
Really, I think it makes the programme feel more relevant and relative. One of the reasons (amongst many) that i think Triple J never became more popular was the complete absence of local programming anywhere in their schedule. (Local news bulletins were planned when the network expanded, but it never happened).
But for commercial radio, I think it’s the same.
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The only stations that can really get away with a national breakfast show are the ones where it’s expected—like RN, NewsRadio, Vision, and Classic FM.
For pretty much everyone else, at an absolute minimum, breakfast and drive shows should be local—especially in capital cities and major regional centres like the Gold Coast.
The whole appeal of radio is that it’s live and local. Otherwise, what’s the difference between radio and Spotify? If I’m paying for Spotify, I get no ads, music tailored to my taste, and I can skip songs I’m not in the mood for.
With radio, I have to sit through ads, listen to self-important DJs like Bazza, Shazza and the Dickhead, and that one guy who laughs at everything, no matter how unfunny. And worst of all, when it’s not local, you get people who can’t even pronounce suburb or road names properly. Anyone from Brisbane will know what I mean with Rode Road—it’s pronounced “Roady Road,” not “Road Road,” but I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard it butchered. It really takes me out of the “passive listening mode” when things are misprounced.
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A few to catch out new presenters on Braidwood FM:
Warri= Wa-RYE not Wa-ree
Oallen= O-Allen like the name Allen and not Oall-en with Oall as in ‘goal’
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Great Article over on Radioinfo about the future of radio (https://radioinfo.com.au/news/r-i-p-radio-in-pieces/) . I agree 100%.
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It’s spot on.
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The author is Canadian, so this article must be about Canada or the US?
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I did notice that, says a lot though when the criticisms put forward in the article apply to the Australian radio market just as much as they do to the North American markets.
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Yes, but definitely applies to Australia - probably even more so.
At least in North America they still have a good variety of formats available, even in small to medium markets. If the author came to Australia they would probably be even more appalled.
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