2025: Radio’s Reset Year
As the calendar flips over into 2025, and the first radio surveys of the year are set to begin, it’s hard to recall of any other time than 2024 which served us up with such a multitude of changes in our industry. The advent of TV in 1956, introduction of the transistor radio or the advent of FM radio launches in Australia were other similar periods.
But, when you look back at the changes that covered everything from the ARN vs SCA buyout, merge, counter offers from other players, wholesale removal of key rating personalities and radio teams, significant increases in on line streaming and podcast listening, and let’s throw into the radio washing cycle the retirement of long time talk presenters like John Laws and Ray Hadley, that’s a lot of upheaval.
It would be reasonable to say that 2025 is Radio’s Reset Year.
Retirement of long time radio bastions is the chance for a fresh, new look as to how radio as an entertainment and show business medium is facing up to the reality that, to quote Bob Dylan, “the times they are a changing.”
There’s little to no time for management to stop, pause and reflect. We live in a TikTok world where 90 secs are about all the time listeners give us to get it right. And get it right all the time. Please, make a note of this if you also work in regional or community radio at any level. It’s not just capital city markets that will see the reset.
Strong, industry experienced leadership is going to a be prerequisite when it comes to managing Radio’s Reset Year.
Why?
Because the listener knows best. They are the guiding captains of our radio ships.
Living In The Listeners World
It’s a cloudy crystal ball that sits in front of me as the opportunity to get a clear prospective picture of what 2025 will deliver comes into vision.
This 2025 Radio Reset year requires all of us in the industry to pull on our listener bifocals and focus on living in the listeners’ world. “All of us” includes everyone from the front door to the back door and into the boardroom.
ARN are continuing to look for financial alignments within the group, so from a business perspective co-branding WSFM into Gold make sense. The core former 2WS listeners who grew up listening to the station since it first went to air focusing on Sydney’s Greater West may be unsure what this co-branding means to them. Is it a loss of their radio icon brand? WSFM has fared well in the last 12 months ratings wise. All of Sydney has embraced its music personality format which took the station to number one in late 2024.
In ARN’s 2025 Radio Reset year, the call sign change is one of many realignments. For others, like Nine Entertainment and the Super Radio Network, new talk personalities across key markets will be required to be strategically managed. And marketed.
The retirement of both ABC and commercial on air teams, and individual personalities, will certainly send a ripple out among the listening markets. From previous experience, when a station or stations make major changes, the consequence is that listeners hit the scan button to checkout what is available for them elsewhere. Some will come back to where they started, stay loyal and regard the cumulative listening experience as not really worth it. Others will stop down and take in a new station for a trial period, maybe an hour or two. Others will switch off completely. The fickler listener will go on a listening holiday stopping here and there for a few days or maybe even weeks before they settle on what engages with them the most.
The Listener Will Get It Right
We live in an era of change. The 2025 Radio Reset will be one of many adjustments either minor or significant. The crystal ball has cleared for a moment and suggests that the listener isn’t always the one who is the primary focus on why the reset is already underway. Ironically, the crystal ball also reveals that the listener will be responsible for further resets to be undertaken across the year ahead. Would it make sense to research their needs ahead of any reset?
Many media business decisions will reveal the reality of what listeners like during the 2025 ratings season. The listener always seems to get it right. They may not know what they like, but they do like what they know.
Are you ready for the Radio 2025 Reset Ride?
Article written by David Rogerson, first published by RadioInfo.
With a background covering over 40 years in Media and Communications, David Rogerson is experienced in nearly every facet of the radio and media communications industries from Group Content Director, to National Marketing Manager and Company Director. He is currently a lecturer and mentor at the Australian Institute of Music in the Masters and Bachelor degrees.
In 1997 he founded media and communications consulting company “Strategic Media Solutions”. David’s professional consulting career has seen him sought-after for his insights and client solutions in more than 15 countries around the world.
As a published author of media related books and entertainment journal articles David has personally mentored a wide range of media company directors, industry managers and entertainment executives. In the music field David’s experience covers marketing and digital content development for a range of artists including INXS and is part of the judging panel for the Australian Songwriters Association and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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