March 14, 2017 at 10:02“Let's dance again”: why is it still too early to bury the radio
Recently, we wrote about why FM radio is at the decline of its capabilities . The article caused heated discussion, many readers strongly disagree with the fact that FM radio stations have no chance of survival. We do not refuse our words, but in this article we will explain why the decline of broadcasting (at least in Russia) will last many more years. Photo darkday CC-BY
The bulk of Russian consumers is quite difficult to “swing” on the transition to new technologies. In that post, we mentioned Norway’s full transition to digital broadcasting. But even in this advanced European country, a mass of dissatisfied appeared - about two-thirds of the population, according to polls, do not agree with the rejection of FM broadcasting.
The transition to the "digit" is the transition to new receivers. And if more advanced metropolitan listeners and the audience in large regional centers will be ready to buy them, then the majority of radio amateurs will be left behind.
With this scenario, radio stations very easily lose their “wavering” audience, that is, one that listens to the radio by chance, for example, in a car or in the background in the kitchen / work. These people are unlikely to specifically buy a digital receiver in order to continue to "accidentally" listen to the radio.
It turns out that at this point there is no good and competent alternative to FM radio broadcasting yet: the main audience of radio stations still falls on motorists.
Proponents of the sunset broadcasting theory primarily mention Internet stations and podcasting as a replacement for FM - but all this remains inaccessible to the average motorist (and if available, by fraud with 3G modems, adapters or connecting via phone). Read more about the problems of digital radio in the car here..
Those who listen to the radio constantly and those who do not quite understand how to listen to FM in the 21st century. In the comments to our previous post about the radio, there was a link to the poll “Are there still people who listen to the radio not in the car”.
Most of the respondents said yes, in completely different situations: someone listens to the radio at work and at home, someone while drowning in the bath / cleaning the room, someone constantly in the morning to cheer up. Of course, this is a very small sample, but the TNS study also gives very positive data on the share of listening to radio stations in 2015.
The main “pain” of radio stations is the prevailing stereotypes (judging by the same comments). For example, people imagine on-air radio exclusively as a set of constantly repeating songs, advertisements, "stupid DJs and vulgar shows."
In some cases, this is true, from the late nineties to early zero, this format is present at many, including very rated stations. But they work exclusively for the consumer - as long as there is feedback, there will be content.
Do not forget that with the development of FM, thousands of radio stations of various formats have appeared in Russia: there are exclusively musical (including without ads), there are conversational, there are educational, political, children’s, adults and even military ones. Perhaps those who scold modern FM radio just have not yet found their radio station.
Do not bury yet. All reports and ratings show that radio stations are slowly but surely losing their audience. This is a natural process, which is influenced by many factors: the growing and aging of the audience, technological progress and the development of the Internet, as a result - the emergence of new sources of information, information overload.
Loss of audience leads to loss of funding, which leads to a decrease in the quality of broadcast content, which, in turn, scares away the remaining audience. We can say that FM radio stations are terminally ill, but they will live until these factors finish broadcasting completely.
There is a positive point: many owners of radio stations did not wait for the agony and began to “move”: they organized Internet broadcasting, built entire complexes with their community, photo and video content on the site of old sites, went on the air and adjusted to progress.
Another part of these enthusiasts began to come up with new formats to attract an audience: promotions, contests and reality shows, collaborations with famous brands, manufacturers and media.
Such attempts can ultimately lead to the evolution of the radio format into something new, modern and suitable for the needs of the target audience. In the meantime, it remains to enjoy the long, but beautiful sunset of the era of FM broadcasting in the traditional sense.
PS What else are we writing about:
We don’t know how otherwise
The bulk of Russian consumers is quite difficult to “swing” on the transition to new technologies. In that post, we mentioned Norway’s full transition to digital broadcasting. But even in this advanced European country, a mass of dissatisfied appeared - about two-thirds of the population, according to polls, do not agree with the rejection of FM broadcasting.
The transition to the "digit" is the transition to new receivers. And if more advanced metropolitan listeners and the audience in large regional centers will be ready to buy them, then the majority of radio amateurs will be left behind.
With this scenario, radio stations very easily lose their “wavering” audience, that is, one that listens to the radio by chance, for example, in a car or in the background in the kitchen / work. These people are unlikely to specifically buy a digital receiver in order to continue to "accidentally" listen to the radio.
It turns out that at this point there is no good and competent alternative to FM radio broadcasting yet: the main audience of radio stations still falls on motorists.
Proponents of the sunset broadcasting theory primarily mention Internet stations and podcasting as a replacement for FM - but all this remains inaccessible to the average motorist (and if available, by fraud with 3G modems, adapters or connecting via phone). Read more about the problems of digital radio in the car here..
As usual, there are two types of people
Those who listen to the radio constantly and those who do not quite understand how to listen to FM in the 21st century. In the comments to our previous post about the radio, there was a link to the poll “Are there still people who listen to the radio not in the car”.
Most of the respondents said yes, in completely different situations: someone listens to the radio at work and at home, someone while drowning in the bath / cleaning the room, someone constantly in the morning to cheer up. Of course, this is a very small sample, but the TNS study also gives very positive data on the share of listening to radio stations in 2015.
The main “pain” of radio stations is the prevailing stereotypes (judging by the same comments). For example, people imagine on-air radio exclusively as a set of constantly repeating songs, advertisements, "stupid DJs and vulgar shows."
In some cases, this is true, from the late nineties to early zero, this format is present at many, including very rated stations. But they work exclusively for the consumer - as long as there is feedback, there will be content.
Do not forget that with the development of FM, thousands of radio stations of various formats have appeared in Russia: there are exclusively musical (including without ads), there are conversational, there are educational, political, children’s, adults and even military ones. Perhaps those who scold modern FM radio just have not yet found their radio station.
So bury the radio, or not?
Do not bury yet. All reports and ratings show that radio stations are slowly but surely losing their audience. This is a natural process, which is influenced by many factors: the growing and aging of the audience, technological progress and the development of the Internet, as a result - the emergence of new sources of information, information overload.
Loss of audience leads to loss of funding, which leads to a decrease in the quality of broadcast content, which, in turn, scares away the remaining audience. We can say that FM radio stations are terminally ill, but they will live until these factors finish broadcasting completely.
There is a positive point: many owners of radio stations did not wait for the agony and began to “move”: they organized Internet broadcasting, built entire complexes with their community, photo and video content on the site of old sites, went on the air and adjusted to progress.
Another part of these enthusiasts began to come up with new formats to attract an audience: promotions, contests and reality shows, collaborations with famous brands, manufacturers and media.
Such attempts can ultimately lead to the evolution of the radio format into something new, modern and suitable for the needs of the target audience. In the meantime, it remains to enjoy the long, but beautiful sunset of the era of FM broadcasting in the traditional sense.
PS What else are we writing about: