We may be heading into uncertain times but for audio, the foundations couldn’t be stronger, writes Ciaran Cunningham
2025 is shaping up to be a year of upheaval as Donald Trump again becomes President of the U.S. and all that follows will clearly have an impact on the economic and political situation across the world. An immediate impact of Trump’s second presidency is Meta’s decision to make changes to its Hateful Conduct policy in the U.S., including the elimination of many restrictions on speech about topics like immigration, gender identity and sexual orientation. And it remains to be seen if this policy is rolled out outside the U.S. to the rest of the world. Many advertisers dropped Twitter/X following Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition, amid brand safety. Advertisers may have to choose between ethical consistency and the reach options offered by Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.
While the changes in the U.S. political landscape will have an impact, they are beyond our direct control. Advertisers and media owners in Ireland need to focus on what they do well and what they can control. And for Ireland and for audio, the great news is that we couldn’t be in better shape. The fundamentals of the Irish economy are very strong, radio has record audiences with over 3.4 million adults listening on an average day and audio advertising revenues have shown strong growth over the past number of years.
Notwithstanding the issues around the lack of content moderation mentioned above, the shift back towards broadcast media that has taken place in recent years should continue in 2025. Behavioural science shows that Trust is vital in advertising, and the medium in which a message is delivered plays a critical role in establishing trust. Studies show that consumers are far more likely to believe a claim made in a public setting, such as audio than in digital, one-to-one channels.
Behavioural science studies also show that reaching customers when they are happy means they’ll notice advertising more. A Radiocentre Ireland study in 2022 showed that audio and radio in particular, entertains listeners, makes them laugh, improves their mood. It is also a great environment to communicate a brand message. An audio platform delivers a captive audience which allows brands the time to craft their story. Unlike the cluttered environment of screens, audio communicates in an intimate one-to-one environment that is clutter free, presenting listeners with a perfect opportunity to engage with and be attentive to audio advertising.
The rise in popularity of podcasts and the ability to connect to audio at any time through increased smartphones and smartspeaker usage means audio will continue to grow. The Radiocentre Ireland Generation Audio research examined the drivers behind the continued growth in the audio landscape, identifying the reasons people listen to audio. The research showed that live radio and on-demand audio formats, rather than competing, play complementary roles for listeners and this is a great platform for continued growth in audio listening in 2025.
Audio is perfectly placed to embrace digitalisation, personalisation, and new technology. The audio industry has already experienced much innovation driven by the rise of streaming, on-demand audio, and the growing popularity of podcasts. Technologies like text to-speech, voice cloning, and AI-driven content curation will deliver opportunities to enhance the audio experience and improve contextual targeting for advertisers.
For Radiocentre Ireland, there is an opportunity to build on audio’s success by demonstrating the effectiveness of the medium and highlighting new innovations. The Irish Audio Awards 2024-25 and Sounding Out 2025 will be bigger than ever this year and Radiocentre Ireland will add to the wide range of research that we have already provided with new publicly available research later this year.
We may be heading into some uncertain political times on the global stage but for audio, the foundations for a hugely successful 2025 couldn’t be stronger.
Ciaran Cunningham is CEO of Radiocentre Ireland