President and Founder of Bridge Ratings
Radio has spent a lifetime imagining its listener.
This listener is alert. Focused. Emotionally available. They sit through commercial breaks like it’s a civic duty. They hear every word the air talent says. They notice when the segue is late. They appreciate the imaging. They understand contest rules on the first listen.
This listener is imaginary.
The listener radio actually gets is driving, daydreaming, late, hungry, mildly stressed, and only vaguely aware that the radio is on. They didn’t choose the station so much as end up there. They’re listening… but not listening-listening.
And that’s where the comedy lives.
The imagined listener hears a perfectly crafted break. The real listener hears, “—and coming up—oh good, this song.”
The imagined listener notices branding consistency. The real listener notices when the song hits fast. The imagined listener listens linearly.
The real listener listens opportunistically—until the light turns green, the call comes in, or life interrupts again.
Radio programmers know this. Air talent know this.
Yet radio meetings still revolve around the imagined listener—the one who is paying attention, evaluating the product, and forming strong opinions about sweepers. Meanwhile, the real listener is folding laundry.
Here’s the twist: radio doesn’t succeed despite distracted listening. It succeeds because of it.
Radio is the medium that doesn’t demand eye contact. It doesn’t pause your life. It rides alongside it.
The real listener doesn’t lean in—they let radio tag along. That’s why clarity beats cleverness. Why repetition works (even when we roll our eyes). Why the best air talent sound like companions, not presenters. And why moments matter more than perfection. The imagined listener wants radio to impress them.
The real listener wants radio to fit. When radio forgets this, it overproduces, overbrands, and overexplains. When radio remembers it, the medium feels effortless—even when it’s anything but.
The future of radio doesn’t belong to the listener who’s paying close attention. It belongs to the one who isn’t… and keeps listening anyway.
Radio still wins — because it fits real life.
➤Dave Van Dyke is currently President and founder of media consumption analysis research firm Bridge Ratings and its subsidiary StreamStats LLC, the company has been providing radio stations with proprietary on-demand streaming data based on format core listener music consumption behavior. More Information: HERE