Why Terrestrial Radio Is Here to Stay

By Carolyn Heneghan

It doesn’t matter what critics say—terrestrial radio is not dead. And it may never be.

For years now digital/streaming and satellite radio have gone head to head with terrestrial radio to attract and retain the wider audience. With its huge popularity taken into consideration, digital and streaming radio has indeed usurped a large chunk of the market, particularly since the dawn of digital music-capable mobile devices.

But still, terrestrial radio and its airwaves maintain a solid footing with a foundation that spans nearly a century. Face it, critics—it’s not going anywhere.

Let’s begin with some nostalgia. Think families sitting around the radio, enjoying the day’s music and news from a device that revolutionized communication as we know it. Then was the introduction of the car radio—decades later, windows down, you’re blaring your favorite station and singing along with the soundtrack of the current musical era. You know, the good old days.

Well as it turns out, there are plenty of people out there who still partake in these good-old traditions. In fact, according to Clear Channel, the largest radio service provider in the U.S., there are about 850 radio stations and 238 million listeners per month. In a country of 313.9 million as of 2012, that’s about 76% of the population.

But terrestrial radio’s critics would still have you think otherwise.

Let’s Get the Facts Straight

Now, this opinion is not without its facts and statistics. Satellite radio, for example, gained 453,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2013, which brings its total to 24.4 million. In the first quarter of 2013, Pandora has around 70 million active users, and Pandora One has gained more than 700,000 new subscribers, which brings their total subscribers to 2.5 million. Spotify currently has over 24 million active users and over 6 million paying subscribers.

Now, the big whammy, and terrestrial radio’s absolute biggest competitor, is iTunes accounting for about 75% of global digital music with a staggering 600 million users worldwide. They just recently revealed their own iTunes Radio which stands to compete with the aforementioned streaming services.

However, these numbers reflect global users rather than in the United States alone, so the numbers cannot be taken into consideration outright. But these are the numbers that critics quote, and even still, some of these numbers can hardly touch the impact of terrestrial radio in the U.S. today.

Why Digital Radio Is Gaining Strength

The question is, how has digital radio gained such speed and momentum, enough to begin to compete with terrestrial radio? For starters, the instantaneous selection of music from one’s library is something that terrestrial radio simply cannot do. Hankering for your favorite song? You don’t have to wait for it to come on the radio—just browse, select and push play.

Another advantage to digital radio is the breadth of one’s music library. Terrestrial radio has its certain playlist of songs decided by the DJ at that time. But with digital and streaming radio, you are the DJ. You have the entire selection of your uploaded or streaming music library at your fingertips, ready to be called up at will.

Still another advantage is mobility. In the advent of mobile phones and tablets, carrying around your music library has never been easier. There are thinner and sleeker Walkmans these days, but carrying around a device just for radio in addition to your mobile phone or tablet just doesn’t sit well with the majority of consumers.

Still, Terrestrial Radio Has Its Own Unique Benefits

While digital radio is gaining momentum due to these benefits, terrestrial radio still has a hold on the American public for reasons of its own. For starters, some people prefer to not have to choose the music they listen to, and they like a DJ playing the top hits or genre-specific hits of that station for them. This also helps with song and artist discovery, just in a different way than some of the streaming services.

Terrestrial radio lives and breathes local content. As wavelengths and signals can only travel so far, radio stations are generally encouraged to maintain some sense of locality in their programming and possibly even sound choice. This includes local news, music from local artists and even advertisements for local businesses that you just can’t get from digital radio.

In terms of artist royalties, radio stations, for the most part, have got a system, and it’s a system that has worked for many years. Streaming and digital radio services are still trying to work out the kinks in their own plans for rewarding artists for their music, and many people—especially artists—are turned off by this fact.

And finally, terrestrial radio is free. Several of these digital and streaming providers do end up having free music as well, but terrestrial radio will always be free. No subscriptions necessary. If these providers ever decide to go subscription only, terrestrial radio will always be free.

While digital radio does pose something of a threat to terrestrial radio, the traditional medium is just too far engrained to be going anywhere anytime soon. There may be some adaptation involved as the music industry continues to evolve over time, but for the most part, terrestrial radio has found and will continue to hold a special place in the hearts of music listeners.