ABSTRACT
Digital technologies have facilitated a rebirth of the radio medium, which has always enjoyed the highest level of consumption among its audiences in many societies. In South Africa and many African countries, the radio medium has already been there for a long time. It remains the most consumed traditional medium in both urban and rural contexts, with the ubiquity of communication technologies enabling a global reach. The radio has always created communities of common interest among audiences and provided shared spaces for local and national dialogue. Apart from allowing varied audiences, technology has enhanced their participation in radio narratives. This chapter explores how digital technologies have rebirthed radio through digital radio and r@dio. It takes cognisance of how technological advancements have altered radio consumption as well as participation. Functioning in symbiosis with a parallel growth of traditional and new audiences, consumers have become prosumers – cocreators of the rebirthed medium. Yet those without access to digital technologies, mostly rural audiences, have conversely become marginalised from participation. The marginalised are increasingly growing disempowered to engage in conversations that are accessible to the privileged few who can afford access to technology. The chapter highlights some implications of and challenges that technological changes pose to regulators whose policies need to level up with the rapidly changing landscape of radio. It provides case studies of how digital radio and r@dio are operating within the South African context while examining the challenges and opportunities emerging from digital radio. Importantly, the chapter attempts to speculate about the future effects of growing trends on regulation and praxis in the radio industry.
