When I think about radio in 2025, I see an industry at a crossroads. For too long, we’ve operated in a bubble, focusing on how radio has always been done instead of looking outward at how other media has adapted.
If there’s one place we can learn from, it’s television. Not too long ago, TV was simple: you switched on the box in the corner of the living room, and you had two or three channels to choose from. The experience was linear, you consumed whatever was being broadcast at that moment, even though much of it wasn’t truly live.
Fast forward to today and television looks very different. Yes, there is still linear and it still gets decent audiences, although far smaller usually than in the past. My mum, who’s not a sports fan, said recently that there’s nothing on but sport. That’s not quite true but sport is one of the few things on TV that needs to be live.
TV these days includes streamers like Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV, alongside broadcaster-owned platforms like iPlayer and ITVX. And these have completely reshaped the viewing experience because it’s not about what channel you’re watching, but which programme you want, at the time you want it.
Rethinking listening
Radio is bound to go through a similar shift, at least some parts of it. Like it or not (and there are people on both the radio and podcasting side who disagree) but podcasts are radio and their growth over the last decade has been phenomenal, taking a once-niche medium mainstream.
And when we look at traditional radio, there has been a huge change from the days of turning a physical dial to find a frequency, to presets on devices, and now to simply asking a smart speaker to play a station. You can even schedule your smart speaker to change stations at set times of the day.
That means radio is no longer tied to the rigid linear experience it once was and listeners do ‘channel hop’ to use a phrase that has historically been applied to TV. They are picking their favourite presenters, shows, or genre at will.
Of course, there are services that buck this trend and, overall, ‘live’ or linear still gets huge audiences and is dominant, but apart from the big brands and those stations that are music intensive or news/sport talk, is linear going to endure?
Here’s the challenge: if radio is less important as a linear service, then we need to start thinking differently. Instead of clinging to the old idea of a station identity that sounds the same at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., we should be focusing on creating shows —unique, targeted pieces of content that stand out.
This is particularly true for smaller and community stations where a diet of non-stop music is not what’s required, but competing with national breakfast shows backed by huge budgets and star personalities is a losing battle.
The real opportunity lies in producing content at other times of the day and making sure it’s accessible on demand. Imagine creating a brilliant programme about your local arts scene but only broadcasting it once, at 7 pm on a Wednesday. Is that the best way to serve your community? Wouldn’t it be better to ensure that programme is always available, whenever someone wants to listen?
Many stations already offer catch-up or on-demand services, but the mindset is still “we make linear radio first, and then we repurpose it.” I believe we need to flip that thinking. Let’s make shows for on-demand listening first—and then, if we want, we can showcase them on our linear stations.
Rethinking funding
This also has huge implications for funding. Community radio has long leaned on spot advertising, but that model doesn’t translate well to on-demand content.
Advertising tends to run across the station and changes frequently, which makes it awkward to integrate into shows that people might listen to days, weeks, or even months later. To keep your ad inventory up-to-date on podcasts or other platforms is a technical minefield.
Sponsors, on the other hand, fit perfectly.
Imagine this: instead of trying to get a sponsor for “the afternoon show” on a small station with a modest audience, you create a programme that speaks directly to a niche group. That show could attract a sponsor whose business aligns with the audience’s interests, creating deeper engagement and a better return on investment.
And honouring commercial arrangements is far easier when managed at a show level.
Rethinking the future
The truth is, linear radio might become as redundant as linear TV. Experts are already predicting the decline of TV channels within the next five to ten years as audiences overwhelmingly prefer on-demand viewing. Why shouldn’t radio get ahead of that curve?
We should be producing shows with online consumption in mind—from podcasts to YouTube (for non-music shows), apps, websites, and social media. Linear radio is constrained. On-demand is limitless.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of ‘filling the schedule’ as some measure of success, whereas a strong on-demand offer surely provides better listener value?
If we want radio to thrive for the next 20 years, it’s time to rethink not just how we deliver it, but how we conceptualize it. Shows, not stations. On-demand, not linear. That’s the future I see for radio.
