Radio alive and well in digital age

By Lethbridge Herald on December 6, 2025.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Rumours of radio’s demise have been greatly exaggerated again and again. Television was supposed to kill radio. Music television (MTV) and videos were supposed to kill radio. Portable listening devices like the Apple iPod were going to kill radio. Satellite radio was going to kill “terrestrial radio.” All of these came and some (like MTV) have gone, but radio survives.

Video not only didn’t kill the radio star (nor radio itself), the industry endures by adapting and embracing digital and hybrid broadcasting models, offering online streaming of their signals and integrating with smart speakers and connected car systems to stay relevant in the evolving media landscape.

“I think that really is the beautiful thing about radio right now is we’ve been here for a long time…125 years radio has been working. We’re still here (and) we’re going to continue to be here for a long time as well. Radio still remains relevant and it’s just we’ve all had to adjust in a way that makes us stronger,” says KiSS 107.7 and 106.& ROCK Content Director Andrew Charles Wilcox. 

“Our place in this whole thing has changed, but the fundamentals haven’t. Community changes but our goal is always to build a community…to build an audience (and) to have a great relationship with them.”

Radio has always been a communal medium from shared broadcasts of major news events or sports games to synchronized music listening and call-in talk shows, radio fosters a sense of collective participation among listeners who are often physically separate.

“Radio is about community,” says Wilcox. “I think we need to celebrate that more. It’s fun to listen to the radio and know that you’re listening to it with up to thousands of other people in your community at the exact same time.”

Radio technology has been and remains widespread, user-friendly, and often free to access, making it a highly democratic and pervasive form of communication that can reach diverse populations, including those in remote areas or developing nations.

Local radio stations serve as vital hubs for community news, emergency alerts, and events, directly linking residents and fostering a strong sense of local identity and belonging.

In terms of emotional connection and intimacy the human voice speaking directly to the listener creates a personal and intimate bond, making the experience feel uniquely tailored yet simultaneously shared by an invisible community.

“We have to choose what people want the most and what people have told us over and over again,” says Wilcox. “Every time they’ve done a survey on what people want most all the statistics show us the number one thing that they want now is (on air) personality.The number two thing they want is music which is kind of crazy because over the last decade that’s changed.”

 Canada’s first radio station, the experimental XWA, went on the air in Montreal receiving its license in late 1919 and starting regular broadcasts in 1920. This pioneering station led to the establishment of commercial broadcasting with many more stations appearing by 1922 marking the start of a new mass communication era in Canada.

The “Golden Age” or “heyday” of radio is generally considered to be the period from the late 1920s through the early 1950s. During this time, radio was the dominant electronic mass medium for news and entertainment in the United States, Canada and other parts of the world.

This golden age ended with the rise of television in the 1950s and radio has since faced and weathered significant competition and threats from a succession of new technologies, shifting consumer habits and advertising sales models.

The changed sales model, driven by the rise of digital alternatives, is widely considered the central and most significant challenge for the radio industry today, with the core problem being failure to adapt to the new digital reality. 

Industry experts argue that the biggest threat is myopic leadership that continues to focus on selling “radio spots” rather than leveraging all available marketing tools (digital services, events, etc.) to meet advertisers’ evolving needs.

Despite digital advertising shifts, technological competitors and other challenges, radio maintains its viability and relevance and continues to reach new audiences through adapting and evolving. 

Don’t expect to hear more rumours of its demise anytime soon.