Only a person with hearing impairment may never know the indispensable and permeating role of the radio in the communities of the literate and illiterate of any society during the reign of present-day global pandemic, Coronavirus (COVID-19), compared to other mediums of information.

When the newspaper writer’s hands  get weak and ignore his/her keyboard, the in-studio informer’s vocal cord won’t be tired and radio will continue.

This brings you to why the radio is so popular with people who are thirsty for Coronavirus-related information, than persons who rely on newspaper-channeled information. News about the advent of the Coronavirus has spread faster through the radio  than through writing.

Despite the increase in radio’s audience, radio’s revenue has dropped, as implied in a comment by Mr. Ciaran Davis, Chief Executive Officer of HT&T, owner of ARN and iHeartRadio, an Australian media company. This is a world wide trend during COVID-19 – more people are listening but fewer businesses are advertising, mainly because of lockdowns.

Speaking in an radioinfo podcast interview, Mr. Ciaran said people have learnt that they will listen to more radio “when the pandemic is over.”

One reason for good radio-listening among the larger percentage of people, Mr. Ciaran suggests, is “strong talent” and “strong content.”

iHeartRadio has had its experience of a drop in revenue, with a “22% drop” on HT&T’s revenue on “the previous year”, Mr. Ciaran disclosed during the interview, but he is already seeing signs of improved revenue as the virus subsides and advertisers return to spending their marketing budgets.

The Australian media businessman also talked about investor’s confidence in the radio for advertisements, over lack of trust in social platforms.

In spite of the drop in the radio’s revenue, Mr. Ciaran imagines an “extremely bright future,” but that can be accessible only through each radio-based entrepreneur’s continued investment in “talent.”