Radio or Podcast: 4 Key Differences and 1 Similarity

For people who grew up listening to the radio, it can seem like podcasts are just an offshoot of that medium, and in a sense this is true. Stories and songs have always been a part of humanity's artistic endeavors. Broadcast radio really revolutionized that medium, and now, a hundred years later, podcasts are doing the same. However, with more and more radio stations producing their own podcasts and podcasts putting together live shows, the line between the two is fundamentally blurred. 

Similarity

Of course, there are many similarities between radio and podcasts. The primary one is that they are both built on someone talking while someone else listens. Storytelling is possibly one of the oldest forms of entertainment. Whether that story comes in the form of a song or a news report or a serialized program makes little essential difference. Whether you are listening to an obscure podcast on true crime or live crime reporting on KINY, you are still listening, while someone else talks. From this broad perspective, it's easy to think of podcasts and radio as being basically the same thing. 

Format

However, baked into the format is an essential difference. The key here is live vs pre recorded. While there are pre recorded segments, even on traditional broadcast radio, and some special live episodes of podcasts, broadly speaking, this is the essential difference. Radio is live, podcasts are not. Radio is designed and formatted to be broadcast as one long continuous stream of sound, while podcasts are designed and formatted to be enjoyed episodically. It is much easier to edit a podcast after the fact, while radio programs are considered over and complete as soon as they've been aired. 

Source

This difference in format comes essentially from the difference in sources. Radio is born of the development of broadcast radio waves in the early 20th century. It's the same principle as broadcast television, with similar resulting structures. Like one long live performance, the goal is to produce continuous content, so anyone can tune in at any time and find something worth listening to. Podcasts, on the other hand, can be listened to at any time, which means that they end up being more like books or movies, produced one at a time and then enjoyed at the consumer's leisure.

Production

These differences extrapolate out into the production teams as well. If the radio is a live performance that never really stops, you can see how it would have very different production requirements. Different, in this case, means more. One person with a podcast microphone and some time on their hands can put together a pretty decent podcast, but they'd be a lot harder pressed to put together an entire radio show. If nothing else, they would need a platform that wanted to include that show as part of their lineup. Podcasters have a lot more freedom, but they also are a lot more likely to be overlooked. At least when you're on the radio, you've got the whole station team invested in your success and ready to promote your show. 

Function

The different formats, sources, and production requirements lead to different essential functions. Think of them as two different herbivores. A rabbit and a deer share the same grass and live in the same areas, but they are still different beasts. They serve very different functions. There is a reason that so many radio stations are devoted to music, and so many podcasts are devoted to storytelling, while news thrives pretty equally in both. The evolution of art is never a straight line. Radio and podcasts are a kind of art, and the odds are that they will continue to evolve and draw inspiration from each other. Painting didn't die out because we learned how to take photographs. Books have not been replaced by radio or movies or video games. Arts are never truly lost, they continue to grow and expand and evolve. Radio and podcasts will be no different.