Podcasting: The Radio of Generation Z in Spain

Abstract

The fact that traditional radio is synchronous and unidirectional, with little or no room for interaction and content selection, is one of the main reasons why young people have turned their backs on it. In retrospect, conventional radio never cared for the younger generation, never designing strategies to bring them in. As a result, radio lost its relevance and it does not feature as part of young people’s digital diet. Over the last year, the number of podcast consumers has steadily increased, which is causing this format to become more and more cemented in society. It could be a way to gain younger listeners, an opportunity not to be missed by the radio industry. In the past, young people continued to listen to the radio as they got older, but that is no longer the case nor is radio seen as the go-to resource for new musical content. The challenge for radio is clear: regaining its influence through proposals with added value to differentiate itself from global platforms. In order to carry out this research, a total of 410 young university students were surveyed. The results show what the current picture is in such a changing atmosphere. It has been observed that this audience bases their audio consumption on personal preferences, they mainly access it via social media and they would find it useful and interesting to create their own podcast. This paper includes a podcast where academic experts and audio professionals, interviewed for the doctoral thesis “xxx (anonymity for review)”, reflect on the strategies that radio should adopt in order to gain young listeners.