June 2025 Podcasts vs radio?

Radio is still a thing.

And Christian radio is also still a thing. Both statements can be supported by research, including the NRB-commissioned Barna study we recently learned about and delighted in.

Last week we introduced the topic of this study whose findings revealed 60 percent of American adults consume Christian media in some format.

We mentioned the huge growth in podcasting, and how I believe some authors now think that’s where all author interviews are created. Kind of understandable, given the May 2025 statistics (Statista.com), that indicate close to 160 million Americans listen to or watch podcasts every month.

Podcasts of course can be enjoyed on one’s own schedule, and on repeat, and are ideal for combining with exercise, driving, or weeding the garden or cleaning.  This is one of the major unique factors contributing to their growth.

But today I want to remind you that radio is still a huge presence on the media landscape in our nation.

According to some other research on the site Statista.com, “Radio is one of the most powerful mediums in the United States, with a weekly reach of around 82 percent among adults. There are over 15,445 radio stations in the U.S., all competing for a piece of this massive market. “

Many of you reading this, like me, think of all radio as just radio, one kind. Although it is way more complicated than I can begin to understand, even with digital technology updates it still gets described in wattage. You may have even seen older stations who still have logos of a radio tower with radio waves drawn broadcasting out to a radius sometimes of many miles and multiple states.

Those are the stations spoken of above, what I think of as regular radio, but of necessity those are also now described as terrestrial, since there is now another kind.

As the digital world has grown, radio has added online radio to its offerings, and this is an important element for Christian radio and other specialty types of stations. If you find a station you like, no matter how far away from its coverage area you may be, on its website you’ll see a button that says, “listen live” and you will capture that radio station from wherever you are.

Statista talks about that too, continuing, “Online radio is also playing an increasing role in the radio market.”

Because the fact is it’s both. iHeart Radio is the largest radio organization, but it’s both online and terrestrial. And clever folks that they are, they can customize local advertising so even if you tune into a Chicago station every morning (like my husband does) you’ll hear national ads in addition to your local market commercials. It confuses me a bit that early in the day, but it works.

So, it overlaps.

Then just to keep us all on our toes, increasing numbers of terrestrial radio stations now also have podcasts.

There’s a station in Ohio that has a whole separate interview series that’s a podcast, but the interviewer is one of their top radio hosts. Experienced radio folks are perfect for producing well-paced, interesting podcasts.

In my experience, more often the podcast is a summary or a selected story from a radio interview that the station recently ran.

Pictured in our photo is Bob Crittenden (R.), a radio pro from Faith Radio in Montgomery, Alabama whose daily drive time radio show serves up a massive amount of great content each week. His show is live daily, but includes taped segments, like the interview he’s about to record onsite at the Christian Product Expo interviewing author Dr. Mark Johnson.

Bob then also offers a regular podcast of various highlights of his interviews available on the station’s website as well as podcast providers.

It can all get a bit confusing, and newer by the minute tech devices and software keep things changing. But for right now, though podcasts and other platforms continue to grow, the majority of adults still listen to radio.

And then there is this. Although there are certainly many other ways to receive information, radio has some unique advantages, since it’s also often live. When it comes to breaking news coverage, live radio can play a significant role in communicating community news and vital weather updates, even if power is out and phone chargers aren’t working.

So, as you consider your media participation as an author, welcome the continuing opportunities radio offers.

We’ll be back to more on this media landscape later.