Radio dominated the first half of the 20th century but the advent of affordable TV sets in the 1950s seemed to spell doom for the format. Yet, radio endured. Radio was able to create a distinct image for itself, separate from TV. I have own theories as to why (cars, transistor radios and the music industry) but nothing conclusive.
The amount of attention. You never sit down and say ‘I’m going to listen to some radio’. Radio gets half your attention at best. When it’s a movie or a streaming service or a TV then there’s a battle on. When it’s a background thing that requires little effort and (if you choose your station), it’ll be broadly acceptable, why would you move away? Whether it be in your workplace, car or home, easily delivered engaging content wins. Unlike TV and physical press, Radio is not a ‘burning platform’, it has a few years left. Citation. I Ieft radio recently after 35 years in it. I wouldn’t advise joining it as a career choice, but as mentioned, I think it’ll be around for a while yet. (To the guys who say ‘Cars’. All new cars are online now)
To be fair, I bet there’s a large market of people too cheap for a Spotify subscription but also too lazy to load music on their phone, who just want some sort of distraction while driving. After all, cars have had alternate ways to play music for decades now (8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, MP3 players via Aux).