Radio’s Future Might Be Smaller — But That’s a Good Thing

The path forward might be on the dusty back roads

This year’s trip has taken us through small towns and rural areas, and one thing keeps jumping out.

In Los Angeles and other big cities, Uber and taxi drivers usually play playlists or streaming services. Out here, they’ve got the local radio on. Hotel lobbies and small shops, too.

It makes me think: if radio has a future, maybe it’s here. Not in sprawling national networks or bloated corporate empires, but in the local voices that still matter in smaller communities.

A lot of these stations struggle. They’ve automated or rely on syndicated programming. But I still heard local voices in the mornings, talking about town events and reacting to national news. That’s what makes radio different from Spotify or Apple Music.

The problem is consolidation. Big companies squeeze every dollar, cutting staff and starving stations. But what if new players stepped in? What if smaller companies bought the outlets being spun off, invested in basic infrastructure, and hired more local staff?

The profits wouldn’t be massive or immediate, but they’d be steady. Small businesses would still advertise. Audiences are already there. And from these small markets, radio could start to rebuild outward—maybe even bringing life back into major markets.

That would mean more players on the field. More companies, more diverse voices, less domination by one or two giants.

Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I keep hearing it with my own ears: the small towns are still listening. And if radio is going to find its future, it might not be in the skyscrapers of the big cities—it may be out here, on the dusty back roads.