Radio is entering 2026 under pressure, not from a single technology but from the cumulative weight of change. AI is no longer speculative, audiences are fragmenting faster than formats can stabilize and the operational demands on broadcasters continue to rise. What emerges in this edition of RedTech Magazine is not anxiety, but intent.
Across these pages, radio appears less concerned with reinvention and more focused on understanding what must be protected, what can be adapted and where human judgment still matters. We explore how AI can extend creative and production capabilities without flattening expression, why hyperlocal knowledge is becoming radio’s most defensible asset, and how trust, security and resilience are moving from background concerns to strategic priorities.
Our cover story clearly reflects this balance. Fred Afune describes how Royal Media Services is aligning technology and programming to grow across East Africa without losing connection to its audiences. It’s a reminder that scale and intimacy are not mutually exclusive.
From experimental sound design and new audio brands to cybersecurity, community radio and the practical realities of modern engineering, this issue traces a sector learning to work with complexity rather than deny it.
Radio is not retreating. It is choosing its ground.
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