GENEVA — Radio has historically built its strength on two pillars: Music and speech. Digitization brought new audio competitors to these two pillars: Music streaming platforms for the former and podcasts and, increasingly in certain markets, audiobooks for the latter.
One key area of competition is news, where radio is struggling to remain the audience’s preferred source. Audiences consume news because it fulfills their needs, such as understanding the world around them, helping them make decisions and providing opportunities to participate in social life and discussions, to name a few.
As such, all media outlets offering news compete with one another. In terms of the percentage of overall global weekly news media consumption, there are two tiers. The top tier includes social media, TV and news websites and apps. These are used by more than 50% of the online population in the 48 countries surveyed for the 2026 Digital News Report.
Radio programs and bulletins lead the lower tier, with 21% of the online population reporting weekly consumption. The lower tier also includes print outlets (16%), podcasts (11%) and AI chatbots (10%).
A shrinking audience
These are global percentages, meaning the picture can change dramatically depending on the market. For example, in Austria and Kenya, more than 40% of people consume news radio weekly, while in Indonesia and Argentina, less than 10% do so. Globally, news radio is more popular in Europe and Africa. News podcast consumption is higher in African countries, while Europeans are less likely to use this source. In four countries, more people listen to news via podcasts than radio: Bulgaria, the United States, Indonesia and India.
Worryingly, radio’s figures are at an all-time low. Ten years ago, 37% of respondents listened to the news on the radio weekly; this figure dropped to 26% in 2021. The decline continues, albeit at a slower pace.
Even more concerning, only 23% of news radio users use radio as their main source of news. The remaining 77% use radio as a secondary source, while their main sources may include TV, social media and news websites. Similarly, only 19% of news podcast users rely on them as their main source of news. This means that 5% of the online population relies on radio as their main source of news, while 2% prefer podcasts.
Another worrying figure for the radio industry completes this general picture: 32% of respondents used to consume news on the radio but have stopped. In other words, news radio has more former listeners than current ones.
A comparison of news radio and podcast consumption reveals limited overlap. Just 20% of news radio listeners also listen to news podcasts, and 40% of news podcast listeners also listen to news radio.
The demographics of both media are similar. Both have slightly more male audiences, with political leanings similar to the general population. They also have higher levels of education and income. The only demographic difference is age: Listeners younger than 45 represent 58% of news podcast listeners but only 38% of news radio listeners. In fact, the difference in listenership between news radio and podcasts increases with age. It is nearly equal for the 18–24 age group, while news radio audiences are three times as large as news podcast audiences among those older than 54.
This means that news radio and podcasts are complementary. They share the same demographics, but younger listeners increasingly prefer to listen to their news via podcasts rather than radio.
Adapt or fall behind
As the population ages and older generations embrace new media outlets, the preference for news podcasts will likely increase in the coming years and eventually become the preferred news source, at least among younger generations. Current podcasting trends point to a clear pivot to video, notably for speech formats, as well as more personality-driven content.
Since podcasts are mostly consumed on third-party platforms, the future also points to a loss of direct contact with audiences. Instead, broadcasters will rely on gatekeepers, who can dictate access rules.
Competition will also become more intense. Other media outlets, such as newspapers, are already adopting podcasts as a low-cost way to reach younger demographics, with some notable successes. The widespread availability of text-to-speech and automation tools, as well as the development of more efficient programmatic audio tools, suggests that more competition is on the horizon. Programmatic may also bring additional revenue.
In summary, the future of news audio feels crowded, and broadcasters risk losing prominence in the field. Radio’s investment in news podcasts is no longer a way to explore or reduce risk but a strategic lever for future success, especially since they do not cannibalize news radio. This does not mean abandoning their main news product, but rather preparing for this transition in terms of resource allocation, promotion and risk-taking.
The author is a co-founder and research director at South 180.
This story originally appeared in the September/October 2026 edition of RedTech Magazine. You can read or download that edition for free here.
You can access all past RedTech publications, also for free, here.
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