Essay Planning

Question: Does Radio Have A Future In The Digital Age?

Intention: The Intention of this is to explore the impact of digital technology on Radio and it’s
future

Aims:
- To lay out what the biggest threat to radio is
- To show why these threats are not as big as they seem
- To bring the opinions of the public and also the opinions of professionals together to
show that Radio still has a large popularity
- To use figures (like RAJAR) to show that radio still have a large popularity
- To show that Radio does have a future in the digital age

Introduction:
- Start By Laying out my Intention of the essay
- Move On To Talking about the RAJAR FIGURES Q3 2023
- Bring Up Some of the points from the Digital radio and audio review from GOV UK
- Introduce the main competitor that Radio has (Podcasts) to move into the middle
Middle:

What About Now?

I will be talking about how the Radio Industry is looking at the current moment in time -
LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 5 – LINKS TO – Do People Still
Listen to the Radio in 2023? ‘The radio continues to offer a unique means of accessing live
information conveniently and affordably’ - LINKS TO - Do People Still Listen to the Radio in
2023? ‘Radio has adapted to smartphones with most stations available through dedicated
apps that accommodate live streaming and repeat listens’ - LINKS TO - Digital radio and
audio review - GOV.UK ‘ It has evolved to embrace new digital opportunities to maintain its
universal appeal to audiences’ - LINKS TO - Digital radio and audio review - GOV.UK ‘New
online audio formats including on-demand music streaming and podcasts from both existing
broadcasters and new entrants have emerged and grown rapidly’ - LINKS TO - Do People
Still Listen to the Radio in 2023? ‘Radio is a versatile and timeless concept adapting to
technological advancements’ - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 2

The Rise of Podcasts

I am going to talk about the way that podcast popularity is rising - Podcast statistics UK 2023
- LINKS TO - Interview about Podcasts: Paul Point 9 - LINKS TO - Interview about
Podcasts: Paul Point 1 - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N15 to show what the
increase in the popularity of podcasts are - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N16
to show the reasons for the growth - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N8 to show
the most popular ways that people listen to podcasts - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTION N10 to show what streaming services are used most for podcasts - LINKS TO -
Interview about Podcasts: Paul Point 8 - LINKS TO - Interview about Podcasts: Paul Point
18

What Are The Differences?:

FOCUS GROUP using the following parts Q5 P1, Q5 P2, Q6 P1, Q6 P2 to show the
different reasons for why people listen to Radio and Podcasts and Compare them - LINKS
TO - FOCUS GROUP using the responses from Q7 P1, Q7 P2, Q7 P3, Q8 P1 Q8 P2 Q8 P3
- LINKS TO - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ‘Radio Programmes are almost always… regular
intervals throughout the day’ - LINKS TO - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ‘Even advertising is
different between… or end of the podcast’ ’ - LINKS TO - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ‘Radio
Programmes are genuinely longer than a podcast episode.’ - LINKS TO - TEXTUAL
ANALYSIS ‘Podcasts follow one specific topic… of content across the programme’

How The Radio Industry Is Still Competing against podcasts

I am going to talk about the way that radio is still competing against podcasts - Radio In The
Digital Age (Andrew Dubber) to bring up the quote of ‘as long as people continued to drive to
work and were lazy about their media choices, there would be a reason for there to be
something for them just to switch on habitually’ - LINKS TO - Digital radio and audio review
from GOV UK with the quote of Radio remains a strong, trusted medium in the UK delivering
significant public value. 89% of the population tunes in every week, link both the quote from
Andrew Dubber to the GOV UK – LINKS TO - 10 Reasons Radio is More Relevant Than
Ever to bring up the point that ‘Radio is interactive… those around them’ - LINKS TO -
QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N13 to show that there hasn’t been a massive change in the
listening figures of Radio since from my own research it has decreased and increased at the
same rate - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N14 to give the reasons why people
say that their listening rate has either increased or decreased - LINKS IN - Interview About
Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 26

How Radio Has Changed So Far:

Start to talk about how radio has changed so far - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its
Future: Henry Point 5 to talk about that there hasn’t been and won’t be a dramatic change in
how radio programmes are produced - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future:
Henry POINT 1 - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 8- LINKS TO -
Digital radio and audio review - GOV.UK New online audio formats including on-demand
music streaming… and new entrants have emerged and grown rapidly’ - LINKS TO- Digital
radio and audio review - GOV.UK ‘Over the past 10 years, listening choices have… 574
stations available on DAB across the UK’ - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future:
Henry Point 3 to give a reason for the reason why it might have changed. QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTION N3 to talk about how many people actually listen to Radio - LINKS TO - RAJAR
FIGURES Q3 2023 to compare my independent research to the official figures - LINKS TO -
Digital radio and audio review - GOV.UK ‘Younger audiences who are early adopters of
on-demand audio services, sometimes at the expense of listening to live radio’

What Is The Future For Radio?

FOCUS GROUP Q9 P1, Q9 P2, Q9 P3 to show what the general public think - LINKS TO -
Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 13 - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its
Future: Henry Point 15 - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 28 -
LINKS IN - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 11’ - LINKS TO - Interview About
Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 12. - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N15 to
bring up that the podcast listener figures are growing - LINKS TO - Written Evidence to
House of Lords Select Committee on Communications Inquiry into Digital Switchover of
Television and Radio to use what the conclusion says about ‘It is clear that radio must move
decisively into the digital age… We know that, for everyone involved, the prize will be worth
the effort’ to show that it will be a challenge to make sure that Radio Has A Future In The
Digital Age - LINKS TO - Is Radio Dying? Exploring the Challenges Facing the Industry by
Saman Wijesighe. To bring up most of the challenges that the radio industry is facing now to
make sure that there is a future for the format - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its
Future: Henry Point 16 - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 27

Is There Still A Place For Radio In The Future?

The ups and downs of RAJAR for Q3 2023 – RadioToday to show the figures that show
radio still has a large popularity - LINKS TO - Podcast statistics UK 2023: how businesses
can benefit which shows that there is a lower percentage of listeners for podcasts than there
was for radio - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 24 and Point 25
and Point 14 - LINKS TO - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N17 to show what that the
general public overall still listen to Radio the most - LINKS TO - Interview about Podcasts:
Paul Point 37 & Point 14 to show that Podcasts are not a threat for Radio - LINKS TO -
Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 24 & 26 to continue to show that there isn’t
much threat against radio - LINKS TO - Why Radio is Still Relevant in the Digital Age ‘Radio
is adaptable. Radio has… video, graphics, text, and more’ to show that Radio is moving with
the times - LINKS TO - Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 29

End:
- Summarise Overall Findings
- QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTION N17 & The ups and downs of RAJAR for Q3 2023 –
RadioToday to bring back up the overall listening figures
- Bring In Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 16 again to show that the
Radio Industry is adapting with the times
- Interview About Radio & Its Future: Henry Point 25 to bring back up that there is no
competition between other forms of audio content
- Come to the final conclusion of ‘Does Radio Have A Future In The Digital Age?’