STOP BROADCASTING TO THE WRONG RADIO LISTENER
You download a podcast on purpose and take the time to listen to it. The subject is interesting to you; informative,educational,entertaining…you have a reason to listen!
OnAirCoach recently ran a survey. We asked different age groups – ‘What do you do for entertainment and do you listen to radio?’ These are just some of the replies.
* 74 yrs – “No, I don’t really listen to the radio anymore like I used to. They just don’t cater for me. I don’t know all that new stuff they play. The music years ago was much better and I can’t be bothered listening to the internet or downloading things. I miss the radio”.
* 48 yrs – “Sorry, but I’d rather download a football podcast or Joe Rogan”.
* 61 yrs – ” I turn on for the news and local information. Some talk shows shout a lot and put me in a bad mood. Too negative. There’s a good few oldie internet stations I like but some don’t talk on them. I like music and company”
* 22 yrs – “No, I usually switch it off in the kitchen if Mum left it on before me. I find it annoying, just noise”
>>> Yet, radio is targeting the under 35s! <<<
We decided to delve deeper into the younger respondents and the responses were more or less the same. They have their entertainment sorted.
So we were curious – WHO is grabbing their attention and WHY?
Cody Ko – Cody’s Youtube channel attracts millions of views – 33 million on one video that we watched. His channel description – “CODY KO is an actor/comedian/YouTuber/podcaster/SoundCloud rapper/internet badboy based in Venice, CA. He speaks in several podcasts and makes comedy videos”.
Emma Chamberlain – Another popular all rounder – cooking videos, fashion hauls, car vlogs…She is known for her love of coffee and self-deprecating humour. Her niche editing style is defined by zooms, adding text to the screen, and pauses.
Netflix Shows – Literally whatever is trending…and Crime documentaries.
Podcasts – Catfish or Crime! Crime is HUGE.
Spotify – Their OWN playlists or whatever their friends are listening to. They play an artist they like and then explore that artist’s ‘Radio’ to find similar songs to add to the playlist. Then they spend time making artistic and relevant cover photos to match each playlist. Pretty much the same as a mixtape!
Radio Stations, like every business these days, need to attract advertisers to stay afloat.
In 2023, Radio is just another platform among the numerous other ones fighting for your listener’s attention. Just another needle in an expanding haystack unless your figures are showing otherwise and you’re known for that format (eg Capital, KISS.)
- How do we compete?
- Do we keep trying?
- With so much variety out there, why would a 22 year old listen to radio?
And on the flip side of the coin – is Radio forgetting it’s old listener? The kids of the retro era who grew up listening to radio? Yes, music evolves but is the older listener really getting the right music and chat to their ears!
I’ve been listening to a lot of radio all over the world over the last few months and researching who is working and why. What radio stations, podcasts, vlogs, music, TV shows are attention grabbers and entertaining us.
>> And it keeps leading me back to the same point of the circle…
Is radio chasing the wrong listener and losing it’s loyal, established base?
By Tracey