Shaking up the modern radio business

Radio businesses are no longer strictly an audio experience. People now read their online publications, attend their live events and watch, or compete in, their esports competitions.

The process of radio diversification has been underway for years, and while some areas, such as events, are fairly developed, others, such as esports, still need more time to mature.

But perhaps the biggest trend for 2019 remains one area close to radio’s audio core – podcasting.

All the big players, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), Nova Entertainment and Australian Radio Network (ARN), have carved out space in the podcasting sector, which appears to have enormous market potential in Australia.

A study commissioned last year by Nova’s podcasting platform Acast and international research company Ipsos, found that 20 per cent of current podcasters were new to the platform over the past six months.

Head of Podcasting Jay Walkerden says the venture with Acast, which has been running since 2017, allows Nova to host, monetise, produce and ideate podcasts locally, and