Media (R)evolutions: the changing face of radio

The World Bank
Darejani Markozashvili



New developments and curiosities from a changing global media landscape: People, Spaces, Deliberation brings trends and events to your attention that illustrate that tomorrow's media environment will look very different from today's, and will have little resemblance to yesterday's.

The significance of radio cannot be underestimated. Radio is an important, or sometimes the only, source of information to many around the world who are still unconnected to the Internet. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that number is about 3.9 billion. “While 40% of the population in developing world is online, at least 75% of households in developing countries have access to a radio.” In that sense, radio is fundamentally more inclusive communication tool.

But as the world moves forward with new technologies and modern communication platforms, the face of radio remains mostly unchanged. Can radio afford to stay this way? How can radio adapt to the 21st century changes? How can it reach and interact with its listeners in the time of snapchat, twitter and other social media channels? Can it leverage these technological changes and turn them into opportunities? If the radio stations want to remain relevant and continue to reach populations worldwide, they need to pay attention to the changing media consumer behaviors, produce the right content, and get it to the consumers in an easy, simple way across all the devices.

Tune in to an ITU special report for the World Radio Day to learn more about the future of radio.

Tune in to the Future of Radio - An ITU Special Report

As shown in the video, Maximilian Knop, CEO of Konsole Labs, a Berlin-based agency for new media apps, suggests that “radio should concentrate on putting more small content snacks, like news or information, on different platforms. So as a customer, I can hear my radio as a small “info-trainment” news snack on Alexa, or in my car, or on my watch.”