Characteristics of the Classic Radio Experience Perceived by Young Listeners and Design Implications for Their Digital Transformation

Abstract

Nonlinear radio is sometimes perceived as being less enjoyable than traditional radio as elements like jokes, breaks, moderation, and the value-add of editors and radio hosts are often omitted. We start thinking about the design of nonlinear digital radio services with a focus on the traditional “radio-listening experience” from a consumer value perspective and the transformation of its characteristics to a digital context. We catalog the characteristics that make classic radio worth listening to from the perspective of a younger audience by conducting a qualitative study. Further, we identify implications for digital radio services based on the characteristics we elicited.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Deutschlandradio in a joint research project with University of Cologne. Many thanks to Markus Waldhauser and Dr. Nicola Balkenhol for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Media libraries or media centers in this paper denote large collections of media that are available on the internet as on-demand media. Within radio, media libraries are also referred to as audio libraries.

2. In our research setting, the audience of 18–35 years was of particular interest. We are however aware that in other research contexts, listeners segments are defined in a different way.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stefan Hirschmeier

Stefan Hirschmeier is a research assistant at the Cologne Institute for Information Systems (CIIS), University of Cologne, Germany. He holds a degree in computer science and is in his last year of PhD studies on the digital transformation of radio. Prior to his PhD studies, he worked at Fraunhofer Institute of Technology.

Vanessa Beule

Vanessa Beule is a research assistant at the Cologne Institute for Information Systems (CIIS), University of Cologne, Germany. She holds a master of science in market and media research. Prior to her PhD studies, she worked for the Institute for Broadcasting Economics, Cologne.